by: The Voice of Raisins…
A handful of observations on a Monday morning er, afternoon (it was morning when I started this):
Index finger: I believe that Huddy’s back is probably still barking. That can directly cause his pitches to stay up, which they are. Pitches up are deadly for a sinkerballer.
Middle finger: I am perplexed about this team. They look as though they should have a formidable lineup, yet the lineup is quite anemic. Hard to fault the pitching – which is currently a bit beat up – because they for the most part keep us in the game. But, dang… they have to be a little bit disheartened that they can’t get any run support, don’t ya think?
Ring finger: The most dangerous bat in the lineup right now is easily McCann, who is as consistent as they come. But aside from him, it’s gotta be Hinske, who isn’t even a starter. Sad commentary.
Pinky: I love so many things about Martin Prado. He works harder than anyone else out there, is the epitome of “team player”, and is likely the team “spark plug”. But when you look at his offense, he’s kinda “meh”. He has a flair for getting big hits a big times, but he also makes alot of outs. How many DP’s has he hit into from the 2 hole behind Schafer? A bunch. No doubt he is a very good player and a guy that we depend on. But his overall offense is really pretty average. He was a standout 2B. He would make a good 3B, but in all honesty with too little power. He is an average LF who makes a lot of outs. If Uggla was doing his usual thing, it would balance out. He ain’t, and it doesn’t.
Thumb: What do we do? The rising star can’t stay healthy, and the fading star can’t stay 100% healthy. The bridge star is mired in a horrendous slump. You can’t touch any of those golden spots in any improvement plans. The SS is an All-Star defensively, but wildly inconsistent offensively. The 1B is a young’un with a magic glove who is showing potential, but is not yet giving you the prodigious production you expect from that corner of the IF. But they are both necessary defensively and aren’t going anywhere. LF is manned by a beloved player who isn’t really in the elite of OF, but would cause a PR nightmare if replaced. We’re stuck with him. The regular CF is hurt – again – and makes too much $$$ to jettison. His replacement has potential, but is still unproven. The organization has to see if he is indeed in the future plans. An upgrade is slightly possible there, but not likely. We already have the best C in the NL, and arguably in MLB. Can’t improve there. What do we do? Man am I glad I don’t have “General Manager” on my door…
Braves & Stuff 
Thanks Raisins for your always spot on opine, hopefully the EIC will send your post to the graphics dept for her usual enhancements.
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Across the street, Chipper basically called out Jayson Heyward for being a wimp. Good for Chipper… There has always been a difference in playing injured and playing hurt.Could one imagine a guy with the skills and talent of a Jason Heyward with the tenacity of a Marteen Prado? My, what a monster player he would be.
I get with Heyward, he is young, he has never been in the position of having to play through pain, he has always been coddled because he has such a huge upside but the phrase “Consistent adequacy often out performs occasional excellence” sure is coming to fore, more and more for me everyday.
The 162 game season is a grind, a long war where everyday is a battle, guys are never at 100% , often the best they can hope for is a spurt or a streak that keeps their season numbers north of their weight. Yes, playing with and thru pain can be a beast but it also gives you a true measure of a man.
The way I see it, if Chipper says it out loud, there are likely 24 other guys on the team thinking it. Man up Heyward and get your butt back in there. The Braves don’t have enough depth right now for you to get back to you feeling “good”. We have seen enough Prima-Donnas already….
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Imagine a lineup of:
1. JScha, CF
2. Marteen, LF
3. JHey, RF
4. Chipper, 3B
5. Mac, C
6. Uggla, 2B
7. Freddie, 1B
8. Gonzo, SS
Imagine if those bats could all get clicking together… that’s stout. Say what you will about Schafer being 0 for his last 11 or 12 or whatever. He’s still getting on base. He even stole a base last night. He’s playing half decent, and much more of a leadoff type than we have had since Furcal, and light years better in that role than Nate.
Imagine of all of these guys simply hit to their norm.
Just imagine…
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Speaking of “imagine”:
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2011/06/08/imagine-where-braves-might-be-with-offense/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog
As if we didn’t know he keeps up with what’s going on over here… 😀
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Gonzo, SS
3. Chipper, 3B
4. Mac, C
5. Fredo, 1B
6. Struggla, 2B
7. Big Ski, LF
8. Matt Young, RF (bleh)
9. DLowe, RHP
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Seriously… Matt Young? Uh, why? Why is he still on this roster? I have nothing against him personally, but unless he’s a late inning defensive replacement, or a pinch runner, I fail to see the value.
Maybe it’s just me…
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Why not Stefan Gartrell? I agree that he’s pretty much a AAA lifer, but so is Young. At least Gartrell can smack ’em outta the park every now and then…
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Great lead, Raisins! Good job, Gil!!! Sorry, the graphics department is in a training seminar at the moment learning about vectors as applied to digital art. Yesterday I couldn’t spell it and now I are one! 😆
Great story here: http://www.foxsportssouth.com/06/08/11/Heart-of-a-Champion/landing_sec.html?blockID=531427&feedID=4354
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http://www.foxsportssouth.com/pages/chip_caray_blog/
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Who knew the Aussies were And Idiots ?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AUSTRALIA_KILLING_CAMELS?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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2day’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Gonzo, SS
3. Mac, C
4. Chipper, 3B
5. Fredo, 1B
6. Big Ski, LF
7. Brooks Conrad, 2B
8. Matt Young, RF (again, why?)
9. JJ, RHP
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V,told ya it would make a good lead! 😉
Gil, that was a good guess(trivia question at end of last blog) Those types of questions are the ones I have a real tough time with…got a good one last night at our local trivia, who was the last player to drive in 2000 RBI’s????
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Now V and Gil…I truly hope I don’t seem to be a Devil’s Advocate here…Seems everyone love’s what Chipper said…
I remember JHey’s numbers pre and post injury last year. 38 RBI’s in april and May, 34 RBI’s for the final 4 months. (.277 for the year)
This year??? 14 RBI’s , .098 BA for May. No HR’s or RBI’s in 44 AB’s. Even Matt Young could do better than that! 😉
Now, let’s look at Chippers numbers. After a hot start, he’s now hitting .251 for the year. in 71 Ab’s as a right hander, he’s hitting .324. In 132 AB’s as a lefty??? .213 (.312 OBP)
Chipper for the month of May. 1 homer, 10 RBI’s
June, 20 AB’s .200 BA 1 HR 1 RBI.
So….the question is, is Chipper really helping the team with his presence???
Or would it have been better all along to have him get scoped and (relatively) healthy for the rest of the season. If he continues to hit .213 from the left side, we aren’t going to compete for anything…hats off for being tough, but now after what he said, Chipper basically can’t go on the DL, unless something tears completely, right????
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I am awake way too stinkin’ early!
The Phils lost last night and now are only 2 games up in the NL East over our beloved Braves. Oh, and the Braves are on a pace to win 90 games… not too shabby for a team that we are all trying to fix. Just think if we had a healthy JHey and a semi-productive Uggla…
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Ber, It may be that Chipper feels he cannot get his knee problem addresses until Jason can come back and be productive. You just cannot have but so many AAA players on your major league roster and expect to win.
Anyone remember John Smoltz calling out Chipper a few years ago? Just saying, it’s all part of the learning curve. No one knows how much pain another person is experiencing nor do they know their pain threshold. Everyone is different but my take on it is, once it was determined Jason’s problem was not an injury (he was not going to make it worse) it was just a matter of playing with and through the pain.
There are a lot of ways of dealing with it, I was by no means a major leaguer but I played two seasons of high school football with two pulled hamstrings, played softball with a bad hamstring, a pulled groin and a bad back. I just adjusted how I approached the game. Never missed a day of work from it either because it was frowned upon to get hurt at DuPont.
I get it with Jason not wanting to play hurt all the time but it is what major league players do. Do you think Berkman was healthy last year? How about Prujols at the beginning of this season? They still answered the bell. Okay, his non throwing shoulder is hurting, stop swinging for the fences every pitch, cut down on his swing and concentrate on getting on base.
I am/was, not sure any more, a Jayson Heyward fan but I don’t think he is a warrior. All of us “blue collar” type know what it’s like to have to plug away everyday even when we are not 100% because when we don’t show up, it puts an extra burden on everyone else. Most of the time they don’t feel 100% either.
I’m just saying the guy need to decide if he is going to be a Prima-Donna or Joe-Lunchbox. Right now, I’d take a team full of Marteen Prados over a team full of Jason Heywards.
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Raisins, I keep thinking Uggla will snap out of his funk. Maybe after the all-star break. Baseball can be a really streaky game. A month and a half of Troy Glaus like production could do wonders for the whole team. Right now, he is so frustrated that nothing he does works so he is thinking all the time rather than just seeing the ball and hitting the ball.
Got to say the Marlins are tough, always seem to be against the Braves. Two outstanding catches made against the Braves in this series robbed them of extra base hits. My hope is they will play the Phillies tough too.
Go Dodgers!!!! Was 3-1 Phils when I went to bed.
Like I said, the goal has to be picking up one game a week on the guy in front of you. Not so insurmountable that way. Mission accomplished.
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I watched the 8th-10th innings last night… including Uggla’s last at bat. I’ll tell ya, it was a good at bat. He worked the pitcher, fouled off some tough pitches, sheared a bat in half length-wise (which I have never seen before), got to a full count, and watched ball 4 sail outside about 4 inches off the plate. Unfortunately, the ump wasn’t watching the same thing everyone else saw and called strike 3. That’s not me being a homer and seeing what I want to see. The replays and “Fox Track” were very clear. Tough when you can’t even take the base you earned…
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Gil, I truly know where you are coming from. I’d drag myself into work at times when I really shouldn’t have(Not with bad hammies though!) meanwhile, other folks in the retail world would call out 2-4 times a month…it would take the managers months to finally get rid of the dead wood…
All I know is Heyward wasn’t producing before going on the DL, and if he can hit like the Heyward of the first two months of 2010, then I would give him another week or so. If he comes back and keeps hitting .214….
Funny, it looks (right now) like the Marlins have the better phenom outfielder…
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V, I saw that too…Uggla needs to catch a break. Whats funny is Conrad’s average is about the same, but he still seems to have a better approach . That single he hit last night was about the hardest ball hit by a brave in a month……
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I’ll keep JHey, thanks. Stanton is a really good young player, but JHey is the second coming of Grif Junior. (Unfortunately, he has the same injury bug, too.)
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Consistent adequacy Raisins, consistent adequacy…
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Of course, if he were toiling away in the minors learning his craft, we would not be bothered by it all.
And hasn’t Freddie Freeman been a nice addition? Sure has been impressive with the leather and hitting those balls to the off field.
Yes, the pitch was 4 inches outside but when you are going bad, the whole world seems to be against you.
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Well, they finally found something even Prado could not play through, On the DL for a Staph infection in his right calf. That is some bad business there….
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Looks kinda easy, don’t it? (That is, unless your last name starts with a vowel that rhymes with “ew”.)
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Anyone having issues with the blog??? Like it looking like a very basic web page??? Sorta like starting in Windows safe mode…or somethin’
WoW!!!! 11-2 Braves!!!! It feels like getting a ton of rain, when you are in a drought! And the braves have been in a runs scoring drought, no doubt! Fun game! 🙂
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Yes, and tomorrow (tonight) they won’t be able to buy a hit. And yes, the dang thing is hanging up… We have blown up the blog…
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Yes Ber, and just like a ton of rain after a drought, much of it just runs off because the ground is too baked to absorb it.
But, maybe it will make the desert bloom… we can only hope.
Still, it was nice to not have to stress over every pitch.
And as Raisins would say, “with a nod to the Scribe” transition… Didn’t Huddy look like his old self? Wild pitches and all, David Ross was riding “Bodacious” behind the plate all night. I wonder if Eddie Perez still has the tee shirts?
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I hope to sound like a broken record, but how about our leadoff hitter? Getting on base and scoring runs… and stealing bases. And Freddie? He now looks like a legit ROY contender. He looks VERY comfortable at the plate. No more rookie butterflies.
And a tip of the Braves cap to our grizzled vet. He looked much better from the left side of the plate, and has been smooth as silk in the field. His daddy was pretty happy.
Yep, nothing like a trip to the worst team in the NL to provide a much needed boost. Heck, maybe even Danny-boy will join in the fun…
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I hope to sound like a broken record…You do, you do, you do, you do! 😛
It’s ok though, it’s the kind of thing I like to hear! 🙂
F.F. really does look comfortable at the plate, and I hope the Manager realizes he’s hitting better against lefties, and to rest him against righties in the future.
Clearly, Chipper responded to me calling him out…and his Dad doing some one on one coaching….
I think I heard Sutton say Hudson was standing much more upright, when releasing the ball, better position for a sinker pitcher…almost sounded proud….he did give some advice to DLowe last year, didn’t he???
Gil, you sound as cynical as I do, surely you don’t want to be like me, do you??? 😉
Hey, want a larff??? Read this blog!!! Good grief!
http://capitolavenueclub.com/?p=4404&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CapitolAvenueClub+%28Capitol+Avenue+Club%29
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Yes Ber, pretty funny stuff. I guess that is what keeps folks in business, different opinions.
I like Kelly Johnson but he is a much better fit for Arizona than he ever was in Atlanta. Sometimes a change in venue does everyone some good.
Do you think if we took up a collection, we could get Chipper’s dad to work a little bit with Uggla? Wrist cock… now there is a golf term for you, personally, I never could get the meaning down pat so I just flailed away….
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Well, interesting game last night….looked like once again the offense was stuck in a ditch, but OBP(Our Best player) McCann once again came to the rescue.
Jordan Schafer’s numbers (.220 BA 1 RBI in 59 AB’s) sure don’t jump off the page, but V is right, he sure feels like an upgrade leading off. very impressed with his base running of late, he looked fast stealing 2nd, last night. Must be working on his jumps off 1st. Last year he stole 12 and was caught 10 times at Gwinnett. That’s why I was even wondering why we were going to bother bringing him up. he’s 6 for 8, and we really need some speed.
I tuned in late, but I really like the order Freddie had in place. I think I might have mentioned having Uggla bat 2nd(I have so very many great ideas! 😛 ) but having McCann bat 3rd and Chipper 4th, great!
Gotta be huge for Uggla to be on base 4 times last night.
And how about Matt Young getting 2 hits on back to back nights???
Hinske now has 8 homers which ties him for team lead…he shouldn’t get this number of Ab’s the rest of the season, but it projects to 20 Hr’s for the season. And any team that wins has to have folks come out of the blue and put up nice numbers or career years.
But it’s nice to know he can give folks rest in left, right, first and, well, he could play 3rd…but when Prado’s back, he can just fill in in left when Prado gives Chipper rest!
Now, if Uggla would just hit say .240 the rest of the year, with about 20 Hr’s the rest of the way….
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Well, typical Braves win – getting on base, stealing bases, good production from Uggla. You know, same ol’ same ol’…
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V, 😆
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Woohoo…. Braves on a roll
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Not quite sure DOB meant when he wrote this….
He snapped a string of 23 games including 21 games in which he’d batted, tied for the longest streak of his career in 2006. The three walks were also the most Uggla had in consecutive games all season.
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What he meant to say was:
“He done good.”
😀
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Good morning folks, it’s kind of nice when the team seems to have found itself and finally has the run production to go along with the great pitching. To be honest, the law of averages will rear its ugly head at some point and the Braves will lose another game but hey, let’s enjoy it while we can.
Like I have said before, the realistic goal is to gain one game per week on the team you are chasing. That means the Braves should have a realist goal of running down the Phillies by the first of July.
It appears the Mets have gotten well and are gaining confidence. Not too worried however because they are, after all, the Mets. The Marlins have discovered they are not as good as they thought they were and their owner, being who he is and doing the things that he does, will create enough strife and turmoil within the locker room they should quickly find their true level of mediocrity
The Nats are playing good ball but they are already so deep in a hole they are not a real threat. Just hope they can continue to play well against the Phillies. It’s tough trying to run down the team ahead of you when they are playing a team that rolls over for them every game.
Dan Uggla…. I think he can put aside any thoughts of having a BA over .225 this season but given where he is, achieving that level would really mean he is being productive. Maybe the two hole is a really good spot for him.
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2.Popeye. 2B
3. Mac, C
4. Chipper, 3B
5. Buy One Get One Freeman, 1B
6. The Beaver, RF
7. Hicksie, SS
8. Not So Young, LF
9. DLowe, RH
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Linebrink? Really? He should change his name to “Greasefire”…
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Well, look at the bright side, Kimbrel and Venters were rested yesterday…
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And do folks really think there is going to be a log jam in the outfield when Heyward and McLouth return? Plenty of room of the roster when the front office demotes Mather, Hicks and Young.
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Well, not a great game last night, but you know what??? I REALLY liked Hinske’s AB. I wouldn’t blame you for missing it, but he could have so easily swung 3 times, and gone back to the bench in an 8-0 game in the 9th( think there were 2 outs as well). Nope, must have been a 10-12 pitch AB , then walked. Matt Young Doubled, then Schafer then hit a 3 run homer. No, didn’t win, but I am sure they were starting to sweat in the Astros dugout. Hinske is just flat out competitor, a winner.
V, He Done good, DOB should have said that! 😉
You know, like others here, I frequent MLBTR site quite a bit, but their stoopid sabermetrics view of baseball, drives me nuts! 😡
Example #434….
Contenders In Need Of First Base Help
By Tim Dierkes [June 14 at 8:58am CST]
As many as six contenders might aim to improve at first base as we approach the trade deadline: the Rays, Angels, Braves, Pirates, Giants, and Diamondbacks. Let’s take a closer look….
The Braves are using rookie Freddie Freeman, who has played fairly close to expectations at .268/.335/.416. You’d like to see more power, but the Braves might be content here.
Yep, what we were all thinking, right??? Replace the 21 year old that hits lefties better than righties, and has hit right around .300 since May 1st??? Sigh….
It was like the other day, when I saw this….
Left fielder Josh Willingham is another $6MM Athletic. At .235/.315/.423, he’s having the worst year of his career as he heads toward free agency.
Ok, he’s hitting .235, but he also has 10 Hr’s and 41 RBI’s playing in the cavernous A’s park. How’d you like to have him in the lineup??? Sadly, it looks like the Phils will pursue him…wish we had a place for him….
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Yup… Hicks and Young will be the first to go. JHey obviously goes back to RF. Until Marteeen makes it back, Nate will likely play in LF. But the real questions arise when Prado returns. Schafer’s numbers aren’t really eye popping, but he definitely adds another dimension to the offense and he is getting on base alot of different ways. No one can question the excellence of his defense in CF, either. But he has to play every day. He won’t be a 4th OF. So unless they plan on sitting Nate, which is somewhat possible I suppose, Schafer could go back. Plus, he still has options.
Funny thing, though… when you compare his raw numbers to Nate’s, they are surprisingly very similar. Their respective impact on the team doesn’t seem equal, though. Still, I can’t see them both co-existing on this roster. I just can’t.
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At this point, I can’t see the Braves making a move to replace any position players. They have all the pieces, they just need all the pieces to be working at the same time.
What I could see, though, is the acquisition of bullpen help. The key spots are going great, but going too often. But you can’t trot Linebrink out there every other night. Sherrill does OK to face 1 lefty and leave. Proctor… well, I can live with him in his current role. But Linebrink… ugh. He’s the team’s “white flag”. When he makes an appearance, it means Fredi is already looking toward the next game.
To me, that’s where Frank might be active. He doesn’t need a top tier reliever, he just needs a decent one.
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Interesting take on the McLouth vs. Schafer debate. Well, interesting to me, anyway, because it lines up with my take.
http://www.throughthefencebaseball.com/brave-move-mclouth-or-schafer-and-other-fun-stats/7027/
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I cannot see the Braves making any significant moves as far as the bullpen goes and here is why… Peter Moylan and Kris Medlen.
Both are on track to return in August, I think. If either is even remotely effective, it would be like picking up a reliever at the trade deadline anyway. I can’t think of anyone who would be available that would be better than either one of those guys anyway.
Braves need help at first???? Oh please, what planet are they living on? I am absolutely satisfied with the offensive and defensive production being provided by Freddie. Perhaps folks are mesmerized by the homers hit by Prujols and fat prince but other than Prujols, I can’t think of anyone I would rather have right now. I guess other folks have nit noticed the number of errors Fab 5 has saved the Braves infield this year. Defense is important too.
As far as the crowded roster…. let’s see if we can get through a month without someone being on the DL before we stress about it, I’m not at all worried. Even if Schafer ends up back at Gwinnett for a month, I don’t think it is going to hurt him or the Braves.
To quote Scarlett O’Hara, feedleledee, I’ll worry about it tomorrow….
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And the ever popular…
2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Popeye, 2B
3. Chipper, 3B
4. Fab 5, 1B
5. Gonzo, SS
6. DRoss, C
7. The Beaver, RF
8. Matty Young, LF
9. JJ, RHP
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I don’t think we can keep pace with all the injuries… Freddie out with an oblique… Sigh
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I think Popeye found his spinach…
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He did find some good swings last night, only one went for a hit but at least three hard hit balls. I have to wonder if Chipper’s dad said anything to him or if he is just being more controlled. He has cut down on his swing.
JJ looked bad last night, started out poorly and never really got untracked. Baseball sure can be a funny game. He is fortunate he only gave up 4 runs.
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Still, I was glad to see Freddie G put up a little fight… I was beginning to worry he was going to wimp out on us.
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Can one of the blog bosses make this lead “106” as well??? thanks!
Boy, I’m not a fan of Mark Cuban, but these comments from Fay Vincent are just…weird…
To Vincent, Cuban’s passion for the Mavericks and financial backing aren’t enough to balance his outspoken demeanor.
“The rules are the rules. I think this enormous criticism — the screaming about officials, the kinds of things that got him fined by David — those are not actions of a sensible, responsible owner,” Vincent said. “I mean winning is not everything, and I’m afraid for some of these owners they get so carried away with winning they believe that’s the objective.”
Winning is not the objective??? 😯
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And Tim Deirkes is starting to burn my britches…
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo made one significant trade last July, sending closer Matt Capps to the Twins for catcher Wilson Ramos. After a hot start the 23-year-old Ramos is hitting an acceptable .248/.320/.410 on the season, and he belongs in the NL Rookie of the Year discussion with Danny Espinosa, Darwin Barney, Josh Collmenter, Brandon Beachy, Fernando Salas, Craig Kimbrel, Dillon Gee, and Mark Melancon.
Man, the dude just doesn’t like FF, does he???
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Wow. I had to borrow this statement from the esteemed Ms. Rogers across the street:
It’s strange to say this, but the Braves .226 average from the right field position is the worst in the National League. Overall as an outfield, the Braves are 14th out of 16 teams in the NL with a .249 batting average from their outfield positions. Their 77 RBIs from outfielders is tied for 15th with the Pirates….About the only consolation there is that the Phillies outfielders are the worst in the National League with a .246 average.
I am speechless… 😯
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Ber, Tim Dierkes is a good compiler of links, and obviously a pretty good businessman. I like his site alot, but only because it is a central jumping off point for numerous sources of real information. As long as he sticks to his talents, he does pretty good. But off on his own… not so much.
Let me put it this way: He can manage my restaurant, but I don’t want him cooking anything.
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Popeye, 2B
3. Mac, C
4. Chipper, 3B
5. Big Ski, 1B
6. Gonzo, SS
7. JHey, RF (returning on his own Bobblehead night, no less…)
8. The Beaver, LF
9. Huddy, RHP
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Hi folks, just remember you heard it here first…. While watching tonight’s game, Miss Josie noted to me that Tim Hudson is “guarding” his back. She said you could notice that when he threw his pitches, he has a tendency to squat rather than bend over in his follow thru. This is causing A) His release point to be off and B) His two seamer to stay up and in the middle of the zone. After she mentioned it, I could see exactly what she was talking about.
Going to be a rough ride for a while until his back is okay. Maybe he is trying to stay in the line up until Beachy can get back.
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Wow, it’s Jason Heyward
bubblebobble head night. Sigh….LikeLike
bleh
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What’s the old saying? It’s not where you are but which direction you are headed… Absolutely true. Also perception is reality….
The Braves, for all intents and purposes, have a good ball club. They lack something though, that something that makes them feared and dangerous. At this point, I am not sure how to fix it but they do need something.
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Miss Josie needs to be hired by the braves….I’d bet you 10 to 1, the coaching staff doesn’t know…well, that’s not fair, but you really shouldn’t have a pitcher try to grind it out…if his mechanics are off, he’s going to hurt his arm, then where will we be????
Phils are 27-12 at home, 16-14 on the road.
Braves are 17-15 at home, 21-16 on the road.
Why??? Phils were without Chase for much of the year. Victorino was on the DL.
Ibanez is hitting .241…as V pointed out, they sure aren’t getting production from RF either…weird!
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Conrad!!!
Again!!!
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Hi folks, my take on Mike Minor is he is going to develop into a pretty decent major league pitcher but he is not there yet. You can get away with two pitches as a reliever but not as a starter. I think it will be a couple of more years and probably for another team. Just saying,,,
Just our luck, “good” Manny shows up to pitch for the Mets tonight.
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And the game ends on one of the 25 ways you can score from third and not from second… and covers Alex’s goof…
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So, Hanson’s scratched from his next start due to shoulder issues, and Chipper left tonight’s game with an abductor strain. Can we just line ’em all up and shoot ’em and be done with it?
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… must add that EOF was not available do to lingering back soreness. It is my understanding that the Braves are considering breaking away from the pack and doing away with the Disabled List, and going with an Able List instead. It’ll be easier to keep up with…
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Raisins, it is why I have repeatedly cite depth as an important attribute for any major league ball club. Even more so today with PEDs being banned. All those aches and pains and innings.
Is Lugo ready to come up yet?
It will be interesting to see what Delgado brings to the table. He is the last of the three chosen ones of the Braves three pitching prospects we have heard so much about.
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Not to mention that I still think Tim Hudson is dealing with some type of back issue.
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He is the last of the three chosen ones of the Braves three pitching prospects we have heard so much about.
Don’t forget Arodys Vizcaino. He’ll probably be called on for Huddy’s next start… 😐
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More Arodys…
http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/5/29/2196280/braves-promote-arodys-vizcaino-to-aa
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF (following his 5 hit night in which he cemented his place on the roster)
2. Struggla, 2B
3. JHey, RF
4. Mac, C
5. Fab 5, 1B
6. Gonzo, SS
7. Big Ski, LF
8. Clutch Conrad, 3B
9. Randall Delgado, RHP
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Is it just me or did anyone else notice that Freddie Freeman went into brainlock after hitting that mammoth homerun in Huston? It was like he suddenly fell in love with a huge, long uppercut swing that would have made Scot Thorman proud. I think it was also about the same time he went 0-20… I’m glad he got a single last night, perhaps it will reset his thought pattern.
I told Josie, for a young player to hit a big homerun like that, it’s almost like a junkie’s first experience with crack or heroin. The keep going back trying to find that high….
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Some reports that Hanson has been DL’d… not confirmed…
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Confirmed… :-\
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Per Mr. O’B:
Braves DL Hanson (tendinitis in rotator cuff of r. shoulder) and option Hicks to Triple-A, recall Delgado to 25-man for tonight’s start, plus recall Ascencio from Triple-A. Needed extra arm with O’Flaherty (back) questionable and Venters needing rest tonight.
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from Jason Starks…way down the page…
• The Braves are outpitching just about every team in baseball — including the Phillies. But the Braves continue to worry about an offense that ranks 12th in the National League and 22nd in the big leagues in runs scored per game. So they’re aggressively positioning themselves to deal for an outfield bat as soon as they can find a team ready to open its sell-off shop for business. They’ve checked in on Josh Willingham and Hunter Pence. And an exec of one team reports: “They want a right-handed bat. But at this point, I think they’d take any bat.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings110617
Those guys are not center fielders….so…is it possible….Prado might be a trade candidate???? Hey, just a thought….
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Willingham is not an upgrade over… anyone on the current roster. Check his numbers. They’re similar to McLouth’s. Can’t see it happening. Pence… maybe, but to play where? He isn’t a CF, Heyward won’t play CF at this level, and LF belongs to Prado.
Could Prado be a trade candidate? Maybe. But if he is, it won’t be for a Hunter Pence. You can bet he’d be packaged with a prominent arm for a top tier guy. More likely they’d sell high on Schafer. But again, you gotta get a real CF back, and one that is a major upgrade over Schafer and McLouth. I don’t know of any of those available right now. Maybe at the deadline, but not right now.
And one more thing. We’ve seen Frank work. If he’s on the prowl for someone, we won’t know it until it’s happening. Betcha.
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And while we’re on the subject of Prado, I’m thinking it, so I might as well say it.
He’s a great guy, and the hardest worker you’ll find in 30 cities. He loves the game like no other. He’s a “team guy”, and wouldn’t throw a teammate under the bus for anything. He is truly beloved, and a mainstay on the roster. But…
Is he an elite player? I don’t think so. He’s a very good player, but not a great player. He was a great 2B, but not a great LF, nor a great 3B. He has a decent AVG, but not great power numbers. And he makes alot of outs. Alot. He lead the league in “outs made” until he went on the DL.
And has he really been missed? A little, yes. But I don’t think you can point directly to his absence and say that we’d have won those first 2 games against NYM “if we’d have just had Martin back.”
Just sayin’…
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… and one more thing. (And this is difficult for me…)
You all know how I despise all of these “advanced metrics”, or what I call “boutique stats”. But there is one that can be used to make comparisons between players, and that is the Wins Over Replacement figure, or WAR. It literally is to represent how many more wins your team gains with you playing over the league average player at your position.
In Martin’a case, he is measured at 0.5. That means we gain 1/2 a game over the league average player.
For comparison purposes, let’s throw a few names out there along with their respective WAR values…
Hunter Pence – 2.3 (ranks 13th in the NL), teammate Alex Gonzalez – 1.5, Ryan Ludwick – 1.2, Pat Burrell (for cryin’ out loud) – .08 OUCH, Jordan Schafer – .06
Martin ranks #105 in the NL, just above Aaron Rowand. Dadgummit.
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So, what would it take to pry Lance Nix away from the Nats? Logan Morse?
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You know what? It is probably a pretty good thing for several players who are currently on the Braves roster that I am neither the manager nor the GM because there would be some serious butt chewing going on behind closed doors tonight. My message would be pretty clear, get your head out of your butt or find yourself being bunk-mates with Kershin Kowakomi in Pearl. Either that on you will be plying your craft in Japan, regardless of how much money you are earning.
I once rooted for one of the worse hockey clubs you could ever imagine but I love those guys because win or lose, and it was mostly lose I’m sad to say, because they gave everything they had every game. They were beat only because they other team had better players but they never lacked for effort.
Jason Heyward may be at the top of my list right now, two lackadaisical plays in one game…. Trade him to whoever thinks he is worth something and give us someone who will actually want to play.
Yes Raisins, I agree Marteen Prado is not a superstar but he is a warrior. A lot more than I can say for Wayward or Uggly right now…. Good grief, does the guy, Uggla, even have a clue? He is Jeff Francoeur and Andrew Jones wrapped up into a single player who is sucking the life out of the Braves’ offense right now. I have a bad rotator cuff and and elbow that has been blown out since 1967 and I could get the guy out.
Personally, I think the Rangers were just rubbing it in when they brought in Felize to finish off the Braves in the ninth. A bit of one upmanship to say thanks for all the great players you gave us in exchange for a guy who did squat for you because you needed pitching when you traded for hitting so you only got beat by 4 runs per game instead of 6.
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good thing I saved this, wouldn’t post before!
Well….Guess it was a lucky thing for me that I woke up so early yesterday, I had to sleep during the first 6 innings…so, Delgado…what did everyone think??? Stoopid worthless espn had a half hour show for the first day of “real” interleague play and a girl(there are good women broadcasters, Wendy Nix ain’t one of them) doing the recap…I got to see ONE pitch by Delgado, and the camera shot went from the side to the center field camera shot on the one pitch! 😡 So, kinda hard for me to judge. I just watched quick pitch on MLB TV which at least gave me 3 pitches to unfairly judge a 21 year old. Still, where are those blazing fastballs from the kids??? I saw Nelly Cruz hit a laser straight 91 MPH fastball for a double….all the talk about all the wondrous starting pitchers in the system, only Hanson has proven itself. I know, it’s early…but for pure stuff, I just haven’t seen it from the 2 top kids. They will get bigger and better…I hope….
Check out Alexi Ogando today, a converted reliever, check out his stuff(granted, he isn’t a kid) Or the Mariners phenom, Michael Pineda 96-97 with each pitch, with movement…
Other stuff…Colby Lewis??? Really??? Helped bring his ERA down to 4.80. Does this team ever look at video of starters they have never faced??? Rangers had no trouble with Delgado first time…we always have trouble first time seeing pitchers
Gil, I don’t mean to bash Prado, I think he’s a real winner, gamer, whathaveyou. And hindsight is 20/20. Right now, we would be much better off with Prado at 2nd, and Infante filling in at 2nd, 1st, 3rd, left, and right(did he play some CF last year as well?) I bet playing in front of, you know, actual crowds, Infante would be hitting better than .253, though that is still 69 points better than Uggla.
Who could predict Uggla forgetting how to hit??? I was thinking how thru the years, so many great hitters like Bonds, Sosa, McGuire(and some even not on steroids) were rendered into .200 hitters facing the Braves. If Uggla killed the Braves, it stands to reason 1) he loved hitting at turner field, and 2) he can hit good pitching, right???
LIke you said, Uggla is bringing the team down, and Heyward isn’t exactly helping, is he??? Where is that guy that just killed lefties last year, before the thumb injury??? He truly seemed like magical player then…now, he’s just a guy….Perhaps he didn’t know he shouldn’t hit lefties last year, so he did?? Now he feels he was lucky??? I don’t know…I remember hearing about Mike Stanton last year, and I was , whatever, some pop, gonna strike out a ton…now…he has so much power, looks so gifted, he looks like what we thought Heyward was going to be…clearly, can’t give up on the very young kid….but right now he’s just a guy playing left. Anyone else hitting .220 would be in danger of losing their starting job, or getting sent to the minors. But he’s lucky, we don’t have anyone else…
So, this is the roundabout way of me saying because of decisions made in the offseason(trading for Uggla-and who wouldn’t have traded for him for what little we had to give up?) and the move that really sucks right now, the longterm contract…we are stuck with Uggla. He could hit .190 for 3 years and he will still be playing every day…that’s why I was wondering if we could/should trade Prado and a vaunted arm or two for say, Pence. But, he’s young and the face of the Astros of the future, so it’s not even that likely.
Another thought…struggle thru this season with what we have, and if Chipper retires, have Uggla move to 3rd, and Prado back to 2nd??? Then “all” the braves have to do is trade/sign a left fielder during the offseason…..you know, one of those power hitting right handed batting outfielders that are everywhere in baseball. 😉
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Wow…some first inning, eh??? Eric Karros said it was as if the Braves didn’t know there was a game starting this early…
Gil, if you are missing the game….Matt Harrison was hitting 96-97 in the first inning. More salt in the wound. Then Elvis stole home…that is just going too far! 😡
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MLB did not see fit for me to see the game, I was awarded the privilege of seeing the Yankees.
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Well, with Mrs. Raisins and the Raisinettes having other preferences, I didn’t get to see it either. But I did watch the live “gamecast” on MLB.com.
They lost there too.
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Josie and I went to an auction today, we did not spend a lot of money, passed on the chance to buy some horses really cheap but did not need any more mouths to feed, horse really do eat a lot more than dogs you know… I don’t ride anymore and the horses are really happy about that I would think. Still, it was good to get out and “hit the circuit” again so to speak.
I may have to take a little breather from the games, they are starting to get to me. Being a Braves junkie is like having a bad acid trip right now. Down the rabbit hole with no idea of which way is up…
It’s 3:15 AM and I have no idea of when I will fall asleep…. BAH HUMBUG!!!! or something like that….
I did read that Freeman struck out 4 time again today. I’m telling you guys, he has fallen in love with the long ball…. Time to put a martingale on that bat of his so he will cut down on that big uppercut swing. You would think he has been watching tapes of Nate McLouth’s at bats from last season and said “hey, Dude, way cool man…”
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And as was intimated yesterday with the callup of Wilken Ramirez, which Fredi hinted was not a temporary arrangement, Joe “The Beaver” Mather has been DFA’d to make room for McLouth who has been activated to start in left field, yes, left field for the Braves today.
To my understanding, the Braves have not asked waivers on The Beav so that likely means they are trying to trade him. He hasn’t been awful, and some team looking for a RH bat off the bench could give us a low level minor leaguer or something. Still, something is better than nothing.
And McLouth in LF… tells me 2 things. First, CF belongs to JScha, It’s his for the rest of this season anyway. Depending on how well he finishes this season will dictate if the Braves have to address CF in the offseason. And second, Martin nay not be back for a while. Look… a staph infection is nothing to play with. It’s nasty business. And even though it has not been made public knowledge, it is my understanding that the docs not only cleaned out infection from Martin’s right calf, they also cleaned out his right knee. Like I said, staph is a nasty bug. Martin needs to concentrate on getting healthy, then getting back. And in the meantime, Nate can show that he is a capable LF… which will only increase his trade value.
Yep, I said it. His trade value. He is no longer an above average CF defensively, but he could be above average in LF. And if he can resume any semblance of offensive capability, he could have some value at the trade deadline.
If anything, the promotion of Ramirez to the Atlanta bench indicates that Frank is not interested in having a $6.5MM 4th OF.
Well, that’s the view from my recliner, anyway…
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2day’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Struggla, 2B
3. JHey, RF
4. Mac, C
5. Free-swinger, 1B
6. Gonzo, SS
7. Nate, LF
8. Diory, 3B
9. JJ, RHP
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Everyday, I become more convinced that the brain trust of the Braves reads the B&S religiously. Much better at bats by Freddie Freeman.
Yes Raisins, Staph is very contagious, so many concerns to the entire team.
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I really liked Nate in LF. Seriously. Today they looked like a real ballclub. Jekyll and Hyde they are. When our boys are doing what they are capable of doing, they’re as good as any team. Problem is, they don’t usually put it all together. Today was fun. I could stand more fun like that…
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Yes Rasins, my point exactly, I do not like losing but it is sloppy play and a lackadaisical attitude that always gets my dander up. There is no shame in being beat by a better and more talented team, there is huge shame in allowing yourself to be beat because you did not give your best effort. Sometimes there is no second chance.
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G’morning everyone. I have spent the last hour or so looking back into some old B&S blogs – going back 3 years and more. Wow… what a blast from the past…
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Braves had a couple of minor league signings yesterday signing OF Chris Carter and former Braves utility IF Ruben Gotay. I get the Carter signing, essentially filling Wilken Ramirez’ AAA spot. Gotay’s signing is not quite so clear to me, unless there is more to Chipper’s problems than are being publicized.
Dunno… maybe a precursor for more activity? It’s pretty obvious that neither Frank nor Fredi are standing around waiting for the current roster to simply get better. Just ask Joe Mather. JScha’s numbers be damned, his speed and defensive acumen have been a small spark to a stale lineup. Same goes for Ramirez. Kid’s got some raw talent and good speed.
The way I see it, the Braves are at a crossroads. On their current path, they will tease their fans to the point of the Wild Card, and maybe sneak in. But they’ll never get out of the 1st round of playoffs. They are missing something.
So they’ll either go all in for this year, which will require some sort of impactful trade, or they’ll simply start getting ready for 2012.
And I am concerned about Chipper. The bionic leg is holding up fine, but the old human leg is taking a beating. Torn cartilage in the knee, tweaked hamstring, tweaked groin, strained adductor… death by paper cuts. I don’t know if I’ve seen a more warrior-like demeanor under the tomahawk, but there are only so many bullets in the clip. I’m concerned…
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Totally unexplainable:
http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/statuses/82635880883425280
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I agree Raisins, age is the enemy of an athlete. Tis why they better learn to enjoy it while they can because it is often over in a flash. So many things that once kept players on the field are now taboo. The spirit may be willing but the body is not.
Jack McKeon… Maybe Loria is thinking he won’t have to pay him a pension… Jeff Loria is exactly the kind of owner you pray you don’t have buy your favorite team. At this point, I think it is irrelevant who the Marlins hire to manage their team. Their spirit is broken and they are wishing to be somewhere else.
Anyone remember my pre season predictions on the NL East standings? I felt the Phillies were still the team to beat but the pitching between them and the Braves was a push, if the Braves can ever get any offense going, they can still run down Philadelphia but right now they are playing for 2nd. I predicted Washington would be much improved because of their bats but they still lacked the pitching to go with it, that the Mets were on the decline because of injuries and the Fish would be last because of their youth and their owner.
if you folks would like, I’ll dust off my crystal ball and pick out some stocks… 🙂
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Weird, even after making a post, I see it in the leave a reply window….
V, look who’s all fancy smanchy! 😉
How’d you do the Olney tweet???
Ok, like you guys, I think of Loria as a totally classless jerk after what he did(or didn’t do) for Bobby last year, and of course other things one hears about the jerk…Heck I might even put the Mets ahead of the Marlins just because the Mets really seem to hustle under their new manager.
That being said….I really don’t think age should be so very important. Some folks shouldn’t drive at 65, others can drive safely at 90. Some managers seem to have gotten old before their time…heck it’s true in a lot of fields. Some great directors are no good past the age of 50, musicians as well. Then again, there is Clint Eastwood who still directs excellent films at 80. Should he not even be given a chance to do that???
Look, I know I won’t be changing anyone’s mind on this subject (fools! 😉 ) but even when I was young(er) I always appreciated older players defying the natural rules of aging. At least they were given a chance to prove themselves on the field.
Ted Williams hit .254 as a 40 year old. Would he be allowed the chance to play at 41 today??? Or would the would the Statards beat the drum so loudly that it was only age, and age alone(not injuries as he stated) that had him hit .254. in 390 Ab’s as a 41 year old, he hit 29 Homers and had a .316 BA.
It just irked me yesterday to see about 5 mentions of Trader Jack being 80, first thing, like can you believe this??? He’s 80, what can he know about baseball anymore??? He’ll probably think the bench in the dugout is a urinal!
So there! 😛
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I think the Chris Carter move is pretty smart. I kinda wonder how he wasn’t on some clubs major league roster this year. Seems like a lot of teams have guys hitting well below his .263 of last year…worth a shot….
I see Ricky Romero is pitching tonight for the Jays. Lefty…with a good changeup. Glad I will be playing trivia! 😉
Prove me wrong Braves! 🙂
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Gonzo, SS
3. JHey, RF
4. But One Get One Freeman, 1B
5. Struggle, 2B
6. DRoss, C
7. Nate, LF
8. Diory, 3B
9. Huddy, RHP
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Josie says Huddy looks better tonight, not squatting. Results in first inning, Two ground balls and a K… Pretty smart gal, Miss Josie
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Not bad at the plate, either…
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Two in a row?? Wow.
Almost 10:00 and the temp has dropped all the way down to 85. 🙄
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Scribe: “Hudson should start at second base tomorrow night and bat fifth :-)”
😆
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Really nice ballgame last night, Of course, a 2 1/2 hr ballgame is almost Madduxess…
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Huddy was freakishly good.
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He really was! I love the idea of him starting at 2nd! 🙂
Why hello there Miss CL! I was about to say this has become the 3 amigos blog! 😛
Now, where is the other lady of the B&S???
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Hey, Ber! Wouldn’t you just love to see peoples’ faces if Huddy was in the starting lineup at 2nd?? Scribe nailed that one! 🙂
FBG might be farming, not sure though since I don’t. Not that one, anyway.
I just have too many projects going on at one time. I work at the PC but have the laptop sitting over to the side with my fb stuff on. The ultimate multi-tasking. Just ask V. 😆
I do come by and read the great comments here but so many times anything I know is already old news by the time I learn of it. Maybe a 3rd computer?? I could sit it over there on the coffee table. That would work – except I blew the budget on Gil’s credentials.
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Which I am still waiting for by the way…… Must be in storage at the post office. 🙂
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Another really nice game for the Bravos last night, a snappy 2 1/2 hours. I’m sure it doesn’t help the beer sale in Atlanta but it does reduce the number of times we are exposed to the screaming red head on the AT&T commercials… It’s people like her that cause me to leave my gun at home. Honest, I would have to put her out of her misery….
Looking for another well played game today. 1 o’clock start Ber so stay awake.
Freddie Freeman’s long loopy golf swing showed up again last night. I swear, I would employ the Francouer and Andruw Jones shock collar on him… Only thing that is going to help Uggla is for him to find a relative to straighten him out like Chipper and BMac. Just an awful approach. You can get away with a stance like his in beer league softball but in the majors, not so much…
By the way, had to laugh when the Jays brought in Marc Rzepczynski. He then proceeded to knock out one of the sound dishes behind the plate. My first thoughts were that Wheel of Fortune was missing a couple of vowels, the second was I was waiting for “Wild Thing” to be played by the organist… So many references to the film, Major Leagues so little blog space….
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So the Braves recall Julio Lugo “to have a veteran to give Gonzo a rest occasionally”. How many time has Gonzo rested this season? Not many… and he doesn’t appear to need it. It’s not like he plays catcher, or has a myriad of injuries he’s trying to protect. The guy’s a gamer.
I suspect they are trying to show that Lugo still has game. There are more than a handful of teams in need of a SS. This is a showcase plain and simple. No doubt in my mind at all…
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Also, with Minor’s performance last night, I think it only elevates the likelihood that a starter gets traded before the deadline. Too many teams are looking for another starter to get them over the hump in a playoff push. Lowe fits too many bills.
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Gil, it’s in the mail. Honest!
It’s hard for me to understand how these guys suddenly forget how to swing the bat. Haven’t they don’t it hundreds of thousands of times???
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Ber, don’t forget the 1:00pm start today.
2day’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. JHey, RF
3. Chipper, 3B
4. Mac, C
5. Loop-de-loop, 1B
6. Struggla, 2B
7. McNate, LF
8. Julio Flippin’ Lugo, SS fer cryin’ out loud…
9. Brandon Oblique-y, RHP
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CL, three posts in two days!!! Will wonders never cease? 😉
I know, I know you are busy…but if you have facebook up, you could open a 2nd tab right next to it!
I know FBG is farming, I must have helped her get at least 1000 acres, and a million head of cattle, the least she could do is come by once a week! 😛
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Hey, when’s the game today??? 😕 😉
V, I was scratching my head about Lugo, too…I guess if he could hit his career BA off the bench (.270) then it’s better than the others at Gwinnett …. I did just check, and Gonzo is hitting .160 his last ten games, (.215 for the month of June)
and that’s after going 3 for 7 against his old team!
Gonna have to toss in some moola to trade Lowe, unless we want nothing in return for him…
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BER!!! GAME TIME!!!
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Gonna have to toss in some moola to trade Lowe, unless we want nothing in return for him…
Having an extra $15MM to spend in the offseason is better than a player in return.
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Another solid game. I hope the Dr. Jekyll team hangs around a little longer… 😀
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Guys, I do not agree that the Braves will have to pay someone to take Lowe off their hands. Sure, there are lots of teams who would be willing to do that but I think he is pretty fairly priced given today’s market.
Beachy looked really sharp today. The Braves are blessed with an embarrassment of riches when it come to starting pitching.
Shafer was robbed of at least three hits today. That’s okay, it all evens out at some point. It sure has with Uggla, the Braves are reaping the evening out for all the good years he had with Florida.
On the homerun by Brooksie followed by the shot by Schafer, Juan miss times the first leap, he knew where to jump for the second…
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So, the Braves are flying to San Diago after today’s game for an off day on the left coast. Life is tough in the big leagues.
Lugo is cheap insurance. Diory is still a little shaky with the leather although his bat is coming around. Gwennett won’t hurt him.
And yes, Gonzo needed to rest, his bat was getting tired. I think more critically is the unknown factor with Prado and having a reliable back up for Chipper too. Lugo is no Omar Infante’ but he may be close.
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Even as badly as the Braves have played, they still own the 2nd best record in the NL behind PHL, they have the 4th best record in MLB behind PHL, BOS, NYY. So maybe they aren’t so bad, after all. My frustration with them is that they are capable of playing so much better than they have.
(Hey, Ber!) 😆
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CL!!!!! Here again! 😉
And you are exactly right! I guess watching one team, all the time, you are seeing them, warts and all….Texas Rangers fans watching the Braves play would likely think we were some also ran team…whereas Blue Jay Fans are thinking, gee, the Braves are about as good as any team in baseball!
But, the Braves haven’t had anyone, short of McCann, get hot. We all know Schafer has provided a spark, but if he hits .231 with a .310 OBP all year, well, that just won’t cut it.
But, as we know, as of today at least, we have a true embarrassment of riches in the starting rotation(still a little confused that Minor was sent down with Hanson on the shelf-several off days meaning no need for a 5th starter perhaps?)
I know Medlin will probably not be back to normal til next year, but still, when Hanson gets back, that makes 6 legit starters….
Gil, I truly hope you are right, but I just don’t think there are many teams willing to take on Lowe’s contract for this year and next, when they think about his age…I mean, he’s 38 now….it’s a risk if he breaks down….
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Yes Ber, it’s a risk but that is why teams buy insurance. Nope, $15 million for one year of Derek Lowe is going to be a bargain in 2012 dollars.
I was taken by surprise with Jim Riggleman resigning as manager of the Nationals today. Sometimes the money is just not worth the grief. I think Jim saw the writing on the wall and just made a preemptive strike. I hate to see him go however because I thought he had the Nats playing better than they really were.
Sounds to me he was tire of being second guessed and micromanaged.
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Gil, like I said, sure hope you are right on DLowe!
Something has told me that Rizzo, or whatever the name of the GM in DC is, is a bit of an Arse, that really thinks he knows how to handle everything.
When everyone was saying Strausburg was ML ready last spring training, only he knew best, that he needed some seasoning, working on throwing to 1st, etc (cuz those 2010 Nationals were playoff ready, and couldn’t risk him learning with the big club-plus, they started the clock late on him to save a buck) really limited his pitches…still blew out his elbow.
As an 18 year old, Andruw Jones hit .277 at A ball.
Bryce Harper at 18, is hitting .330, and watch him get bored at a level that doesn’t really challenge him. I know, I know, he blew a kiss to a pitcher(what’s weird is IF the pitcher was saying things about his Mom, and he went out and beat him up, that would be less of an offense) ok…wait a while to bring him up to AA…and true, it may be the thought throughout the organization, I don’t know…
But, other things I have read recently about the GM, it’s about impossible to trade with him, since he thinks everyone he has is pure gold. San Fran, you want 39 yo backup catcher Ivan Rodriguez?? Oh, that’s gonna cost ya.
From a Nats fan on the Jazz board I frequent…
Not surprising. Can’t blame Riggleman at all. The GM would not even agree to begin discussing an extension. A manager with a one year contract is really in a bind. These are not the days of Walter Alston anymore. I wish him well. He served baseball in Washington very well, in my opinion.
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Roy Oswalt told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that back problems may put his career in jeopardy. The 33-year-old right-hander left last night’s start with lower back soreness after two innings and isn’t sure whether he’ll pitch again.
“You throw as long as you can and when you can’t throw anymore you don’t,” Oswalt said. “Hopefully it’s not to the point where I can’t throw anymore. If it’s at that point, you just have to accept it.” – MLBTR
Once again, the B&S crystal ball proves accurate…
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The Beaver cleared waivers and opts for FA over a trip to AAA. Don’t blame him.
Don’t miss him, either. 😀
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Cool, pics. This man should NEVER be forgotten.
http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/sports/braves/braves-mascot-photos/
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I actually thought he was one of the coolest team mascots. Too bad the PC crowd put him out of a job…
Yes Rasins, we always seem to know what, just have not pinned down on the when….
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Upon further review….. Oswalt’s back must really be hurting for him to mention the “R” word. He is a pretty tough dude. Of course, I was too but the retirement decision was kind of taken out of my hands.
He could always ask for a trade to California, lots of medical whacky weed available… Got glaucoma?
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I think Oswalt is a bit of a…a, I don’t know. He’s been talking about retirement for years. I have heard baseball reporters saying he’s the one guy who could truly walk away from the game mid career.
It’s one thing with Billy Wagner, coming from a broken home, being 38-39…but if Oswalt would rather quit than have back surgery at the age of 33… then he’s just a wuss….
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DLowe didn’t exactly build his trade value tonight…and to call what Jairo Asencio has thown as BP, well, that would be charitable….
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Great article on the Chief! Thanks for posting, R!
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Last night, Mr. Hyde. Tonight, Dr. Jekyll. At least they keep us on our toes, right?
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they sure do!!!
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Sad news, Nick Charles of CNN sports fame has died, after a long battle with Cancer.
Watched Nick and Fred Hickman long before ESPN.
Watch the video down the page talking about his 5 year old daughter
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/25/nick.charles.obit/index.html
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tap, tap…is this thing on???/
Kinda hard to win with 2 hits, isn’t it???
what is it Chipper says??? the Cutter is the bane of his existence. Is that why so many hitters are having down years??? How come Jose Reyes is hitting .341 and Alex Gonzalez is hitting .361??? No cutter pitchers in the AL????
Can anyone recall a year where basically only 1 hitter(McCann) has been hot?? I guess Freddie was hot for almost a week…am I forgetting anyone???
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Yes, Ber, you completely forgot about…
oh wait – yeah, there’s only one. 😐
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Greetings from Gloucester… No, not that Gloucester.. the one in Virginia… Anyway, stealing a Wi-fi signal from an un-secured site. I was able to watch last night’s game. A tad tricky given that I have to sit in a certain spot and hold my mouth just right to avoid getting bumped off the channel.
The wife has been getting in a little R & R with her fishing and crabbing… No, the ones wit claws, not the typical crabbing one gets from shirking their chores.
So, just lazing about, abet, with one foot hanging over a cliff and, you know…
About the game, I was impressed with Beachy last year when he was pressed into service, I was impressed with him when I saw him pitch in spring training and am even more impressed with him after watching him last night. Reading his comments this morning in the AJC, I think the consensus is the only thing he really needs to be able to do is pitch a little more economically. Either that or develop a bit more stamina to get deeper into the game.
It is not like guys are able to get good swings on him but they do appear to foul off a good number of pitches to run up his count. A better change or slider is needed for an out pitch. (Maybe a cutter) sorry guys, couldn’t resist.
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finally, we have met up with a team that’s offense is even more inept than ours! 😛
It was a good game, and you were right all along about Beachy, Gil. That’s two dominating games in a row….
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finally, we have met up with a team that’s offense is even more inept than ours!
Really, how is that even possible???? 🙂
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Did we trade Uggla to them or something?
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Home again, home again…. Greetings all, interesting game last night. McCann is a beast isn’t he?
Uh, does anyone else get as nervous as I do when Sherrill comes in to pitch? And what of Christian Matinez, anyone seen him lately? Do we want to?
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Did we trade Uggla to them or something?
Danny Boy’s coming around a little. 3 dingers in 6 games… last night’s was big. He seems to be seeing the ball a little better.
As for Sherrill, anytime he, Proctor or especially Linebrink come in, I hold on tight. I don’t trust any of them on the bump…
That said, I’m glad I don’t have to make my living trying to hit against Craig Kimbrell. Filthy stuff… just filthy.
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Hey Berigan, game started at 3:30!…is what someone should have said to me! 😉
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Me likey Schafer’s game…
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Me likey Seattle sweep, too.
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Shocking news, Charlie Sheen used Steroids!!!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6716984
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Yeah Berigan, I guess this disqualifies him from Hall of Fame consideration….
Just shows you how those MLB would do anything to get an edge…. And a pitcher no less, who did he think he was, Rod Dibble?
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You know what, I’ll bet he even had the nerve to bet on baseball….. Of course, to me, betting on baseball only proves you are an idiot. Too many sucker bets in baseball, like putting you money on a horse going off at 4-5 odds, but different.
Do you think he might have bet on whether the Indians beat the Yankees in the movie final?
Oh the humanity, next thing you know, we will discover John Goodman was juiced too…
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Raisins, I would like Schafer’s game better if he would stop trying to hit homeruns. Fly balls are not his game. Maybe 20 push ups for every fly ball out would work….
At some point, you have to wonder why there is a communications problem in the Braves’ outfield. Is someone not loud enough? Would say it was Nate if we had not seen the same thing occur with Marteen Prado.
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1st-round pick Sean Gilmartin is the only top 10 pick that remains unsigned. – talking Chop
http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/6/30/2252715/braves-sign-6th-round-draft-pick-mark-lamm
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Here are some interesting numbers posted by our friendly beat writer across the street:
In the 12 games since his 5-hit game, Schafer is 7-for-44 (.159) with a .229 OBP, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 4 BB, 13 K, 7 R.
BUT:
He also scored a team-high 17 runs and had 8 stolen bases in June. No other Braves player had more than 1 steal in June.
This poses a really interesting question in my mind. JScha is batting a measly .222 and his OBP is a less than desirable .295. Even fans who suck at math understand that means he makes an out 7 out of every 10 times he steps to the plate. Heck, I even understand that much.
But do you realize he is 9th on the team in runs scored? That doesn’t sound very impressive until you take into account that he has only been in 32 of the teams 82 games. Seriously. Let’s just extrapolate (FOB?) that out to the teams current 82…
Simple mathematics says JScha “would have scored” 56 runs over 82 games, blowing away the team’s next highest total of 36 by Marteeen.
And you don’t really even have to be paying close attention to know that he leads the team in stolen bases by a wide margin – 9 over JHey’s 4. Folks, it is absolutely true that a guy like that disrupts a pitcher’s rhythm. (What emotion does the name “Kenny Lofton” evoke?) Did you see the way he distracted King Felix in Seattle? Perfect example…
So, he isn’t getting on base a a very high rate, which is typically NOT what you would like out of your leadoff guy. But the other aspects of his game are everything you need on a team struggling to score runs.
Simply put, he’s crossing the plate at a higher rate than anyone else on the roster. And isn’t that truly the offensive goal of a team… to cross the plate as often as possible?
Yes, Gil, he still has a tendancy to overswing at times. But he has changed his overall approach at the plate to a certain degree, a change I believe will continue to evolve. IMO, the longer he is around the veterans on this team, the more he’ll inch that OBP upward.
Well, that’s the view from my perch in NE GA, anyway…
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Braves (47-35) July schedule includes:
3 games against Baltimore (35-43)
8 vs. Colorado (39-42)
3 vs. Philly (51-31)
3 vs. Washington (40-41)
3 vs. Cincy (42-40)
4 vs. Pittsburgh (41-39)
and 3 vs. the Fish (36-45)
17 of those games are at The Ted.
This is the month to make a dent in the 4 game lead…
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Interesting Raisins, perhaps he is still finding his way. After all, the road of life is littered with the bodies of guys who could have met expectations if only they had stayed within themselves and shied away from the temptation of hitting one 500 feet every time they stepped up to the plate.
Schafer is still relatively inexperienced as far as a baseball player goes. The real test is whether he is like every other kid with a bit of talent who comes along and thinks they need to reinvent the wheel or actually use those Dumbo ears of his to listen to the sage advice of his coaches and teammates.
Every player I’ve ever seen gets in trouble and crashes back to earth when they try to do too much.
So what should he do? Cut down his swing so he can make contact more often. Drawing walks will only take you so far. Umpires are notorious for expanding the strike zone for rookies until they prove they can hit. Did not we see Kelly Johnson get called out on a pitch 6 inches outside of the zone many times? I sure did. Actually, a player should be able to reach pitches outside and handle them as long as they are willing to take the pitch to the off field.
You can’t steal first. You have to earn that trip. Well, most of the time anyway….
That said, the Braves have some very young talent on their club right now. I expect some bumps in the road until they can get it figured out.
Thing is, you can’t teach speed, you can only try to harness it so it can be used to an advantage.
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Question…. Could the games with the Rockies be considered as intramural? Maybe like a company league game? Just saying… Maybe the winner of the series could get a satellite dish or something…
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This is actually a good time to be facing the Gnats. They seem to have lost a little bit of the shine they had before Riggleman’s departure.
Like I said, try to pick up a game a week on the guy ahead of you. Of course, with the “wild card” you don’t have to be the fast guy in the pack that is being chased by a hungry bear, you just can’t be the slowest.
What’s the old saw, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades… Maybe should add “wild cards” to that mix….
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Today’s poll question:
Are the Braves close enough in 2011 to make a “big” move before the deadline? In other words, are we close enough in our present to sacrifice some of our future?
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So, just who is out there that would actually make a difference this year and is available? It has become fairly evident to me that most of the short term guys the Braves have picked up in the past don’t really want to hang around long term.
Perhaps a healthy Prado can make a difference.
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Time for Uggla to get with the program too. After all, he was supposed to be the bopper the Braves needed.
That said, he does put some good swings on the ball, if he would hit a few to the right side, his average would jump 100 points… I fear, however, that he has Andruw Jones syndrome…
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What a masterful pitching performance tonight by Jair. I’m not sure if we should call him “Cy” Jurrjens or Jair “Maddux”….
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Who would have thunk it? Dan Uggla cannot hit… He has become the Braves version of Jason Bay. Think the Marlins might be snickering right now?
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Well, as much as a team that is 10 games under 500 might snicker?
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On the flip side, who would have thought that with all of our hitting woes and injury issues, that we would hold the 2nd best record in the NL and 4th best in all of baseball?
If Mr. Uggla can turn it around in the 2nd half, well… need I even say more?
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I must say, two bloops and a blast was a pretty sound philosophy for the Orioles for many years when they were winning 100 games a season.
I’m still believing Chipper is waiting for Marteen to return and he will take a month off and come back for September. The All-star break would be a good time for him to get the knee repaired as it would result in the fewest games missed. Chipper is just not able to generate any power right now but he can ding you to death with singles. Just saying….
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This just in: JJ is not half bad! 😉
The deal with the Tigers is starting to look as bad as the Cubs sending Lou Brock to the Cards.
A bit old, but one of the things I liked most about playing the Mariners, is we faced 3 pitchers we rarely if ever have faced, and 3 way above average starters at that…is pretty good! In case you all didn’t know that! 😛
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Gil, Jason Bay, the .243 hitting Jason Bay??? Ah, we can only dream! 😉
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Jason has just recently got hot… 🙂
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Happy Birthday America……
Now baseball, YO… BER!!!! Day game today!!!!!
Nice game yesterday, a little closer than I would have liked but still pretty exiting whenever your back up catcher hits a Granny.
And when Huddy did his pratfall on his almost third pitch, I kept thinking “ And now, for my next amazing trick ”
Funniest thing was he struck the guy out… Invisiball….
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Great game….yesterday! 😕
Gil, you weren’t loud enough…I missed the first 2 innings…or at least missed their pitcher hitting a homer. Man, he has a good swing! He almost looked like McCann to me there…
Just didn’t feel like the braves day, from McCann’s ball hitting the top of the fence bouncing to Nick M, and getting thrown out at 2nd(he’s done that a few times, hasn’t he, hit the top of the wall?) to me watching Scott Proctor hitting 96 and wondering if he is finally back, to him giving up a monster homer to Mark Reynolds about a second later(Man, how can a guy hit .229 and look so good at the plate?) to, well, an ump that kept calling pitches 3 inches off the plate strikes…you just kinda knew it wasn’t our day…
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I see that Blue Jays designated Juan Rivera for assignment…of course MLBTR pointed out the Phils as a prime team. He’d probably get more playing time there….
we sure have a weird team, don’t we???
Jordan Schafer 139 AB’s 1 HR 5 RBI’s .230 BA, .296 OBP. You’d see some guy playing CF with numbers like that, you would think they HAD to replace that guy, right??? But, Schafer is the best CF’er on the team, and has 10 steals in the short time he’s played.
Nate McLouth 194 AB’s , 3 HR’s 12 RBI’s…how is that, 12 RBI’s, even possible in that many AB’s ? Guess that applies to Schafer too. Nate’s only hitting .232…BUT, and a big one is his OBP. .345, which is 2nd highest by a regular player, and 2 points above Chipper’s.
and since coming back in June, 30 AB’s 6 hits, = .200 BA. Add in his walks, and it 53 AB’s and 22 times on base = .415 OBP! Now that’s weird!
So, if neither he nor Jordan gets hot by the time Prado gets back, (which looks to be quite soon) what happens??? Schafer has to keep playing, right? Nate stays as the backup at all 3 positions since no one really has experience in CF? Or do they trade him with numbers that will impress no one??? Release him even?? go with one less pitcher???
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Did everyone see Chipper’s comments on the officiating ? 😯
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2011/07/03/braves-postgame-quotes-after-sundays-loss-to-baltimore/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog
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Happy Birthday America!
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Good afternoon all, I did not see the end of the game because we had family over and, well, you know…. Anyway, I think Chipper has a valid beef.
I always said, the biggest difference between Triple A and the majors was the umpiring and the pitching. Looks as if the umpiring has evened out so it is equally as bad in the majors now.
I think the only thing players ask for is for calls to be consistent. If a ball 6 inches off the plate is a strike for both teams, so be it. What players hate is when those balls are only called strikes for one team.
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Hoo Boy, that Freeman kid put a couple of really nice swings on the ball tonight. See what happens when you stop trying to Roy Cobb the ball and swing through the zone instead of the gosh awful big upper cut?
Schafer needs to get his mind right…. He is watching the wrong guy, Uggla, as an example to follow in the hitting department. He’s a rookie, time for the big boys to sit him down for a little discussion. Defense or no, he had four really bad at-bats tonight.
Oh well, Nate McLouth is looking better and better at the plate. Hitting eight must agree with him. Maybe it’s because he has to expand his strike zone with the pitcher batting behind him most of the time.
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I forget, Schafer struck out 4 times, is that the golden Sombrero , or is that 5 strike outs???
Who’d a thunk it during spring training that FF would be a much better hitter than JHey, at the all star break??? Man, if only a few guys got hot in a row….heck, we are starting to string wins together, and without even firing on 4 cylinders.
2 things…
One, Frenchy has 12 HR’s and 53 RBI’s…who would have thought he could put those kinds of numbers up at the midway point, and not for the year??? Since he is purely incapable of walking, I wonder what the difference is this year…I know he’s in K.C. but I thought the AL would be the death of his career.
Other thing…
Saw this on MLBTR from a Boston Globe guy….
The White Sox recently sent assistant general manager Dave Yokum to scout some Braves games for pitching. Cafardo specifically cites Brandon Beachy as a starter the Sox were watching and says that Beachy or Derek Lowe could be shopped by Atlanta in exchange for a hitter. I think it’s obvious the Braves would prefer to move the expensive Lowe rather than a young, controllable pitcher like Beachy, but if the Braves wanted to pick up a big bat like Carlos Quentin (as Cafardo speculates), Atlanta certainly has the pitching depth to spare.
Ok, would you make that move, if you were the Braves??? (and no I don’t mean for DLowe, of course we would do that, but they wouldn’t, don’t even know why he is mentioned)
Can Prado play center???
Doesn’t really make sense, especially for the White Sox, who have had offensive problems all year.
Quintin is hitting .253 with 17 HR’s and 49 RBI’s. Why would they trade a right handed power bat who is only 28????
Anyway, something to think about…IMHO, I’d rather trade Tommy Hanson, than Beachy, just because I am afraid he is going to have a lot of arm issues with that motion….
Fire away! 🙂
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If I had a chance to get Quentin, I’d do it in a heartbeat – even for Beachy – and sweat the details later…
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I see this scenario in my crystal ball:
Once Prado gets back – which will likely be right after the All-Star break – Chipper will go on the DL and have his right knee scoped, thus being ready for September and beyond. That’ll land Prado at 3B for a month.
Then… well, the ol’ crystal ball gets a little cloudy after that…
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And Schafer…
Well, he looked lost last night. He did not look like a youngster making incremental progress. I won’t be surprised at all if he is a throw-in in a trade this month.
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As nice a hitter as Quentin is, I can’t see the ChiSox trading him. I just can’t.
Now, over in Houston, according to Ken Rosenthal, the ‘stros are readying themselves to entertain offers for Wandy Rodriguez and Michael Bourne. According to Rosie, they want to hang on to Hunter Pence but would trade Bourn. Bourn is a better fit for the Braves, obviously.
Don’t be surprised to see the Braves offer a pitcher such as Randall Delgado or Mike Minor plus Schafer. I could see it…
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Bourne, Bourn… you get the idea. 😳
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IMO, that move would make a serious impact on the division race. You can already see the positive effect of the limited Schafer in the leadoff spot. Imagine the unlimited Bourn there.
Yeah. 😎
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Also, if the ‘stros trade Wandy, they’ll need to replace him in the rotation. A young, talented and inexpensive lefty – Mike Minor, maybe? – would do that nicely.
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The only negative…
Bourn is a Scott Boras client and hits FA after this season. Unless the Braves intend to lock him up long term, they’d be giving away a young pitcher for half a season of Bourn. Of course, they will be in a position to take on such a salary commitment this offseason when both Nate and KK come off the books. Not to mention the strong possibility that Lowe could be traded in the offseason. (Gotta make room for Julio, ya know…)
I think Bourn would be a real difference maker. And at just 28, he could roam CF at the Ted for many years. Even if he is a Boras client, I’d work on getting him and locking him up long term.
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OK.. enough of me. It’s y’all’s for a while…
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One more thing… the ever observant Lew noted across the street that the recently demoted Cristhian Martinez is in the starting rotation at AAA Gwinnett. That is an interesting development, I believe…
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By the way, the talk across the street, also regarding Bourn, is that he has 2012 as his final arb year. Not what I read…
Wonder who is right?
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OK… now I’m done…
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NOT.
Only 4 teams in all of MLB have won 49 or more games thus far. 2 of those teams are in 2nd place in their division. Go figure… 🙄
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OK… now I’m really done…
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V, well done, well done! 😉
Gee, and I thought I would be lambasted for talking about trading Beachy! 😦
😉
Well, Gil hasn’t spoken yet….I really do like the kid, it’s just…what a difference a right handed power hitter would make…who knows, might take pressure off of Uggla…
V, when you mentioned Bourn, I was thinking Wha??? (Blog first?) Then I looked at his numbers…man, I had no idea he was that good! Not only does he steal a ton of bases, he is almost always safe, which is really rare these days. I guess I just remember that season he hit .227 and thought he was a no hit, all glove kind of guy. Very interesting.
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A point to ponder, none of the players mentioned would have Braves pitching to steal on…. Kind of like Uggla not getting to hit Braves pitching, but different.
I am not opposed to trading Beachy, just not sure it is the wisest course of action. The old saying is, you have to trade quality to get quality. That’s why no one would touch Kershin. I guess they don’t want to pay the extra money for the interpreter.
Sometimes I think baseball writers throw stuff up against the wall to see if any of it sticks. Slow news day so they invent something, easier than actually working on a story and chasing down leads…
Ber, 5 strikeouts is the Horne ‘O Plenty…
Man. you need to read your own books… 🙂
Makes sense to use Martinez as a starter in Triple A, after all, he is long relief… best way to get him stretched out.
And the September time frame will take care of itself, roster expansion and all that.
Actually, I thought Chipper might take advantage of the All-star break to take care of his knee as it would allow for fewer missed games but I can’t see him giving up an opportunity to play in the AS game.
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The thing with me is simple… having a speed guy leading off has obviously helped this team win a few games over the last month. Problem is, you can’t steal 1B. And last night is more the norm than the exception with Schafer.
Imagine getting Bourn on base at his current .354 pace. Then imagine Prado, Chipper and Mac having more opportunities to knock him in than they get with Schafer. And Bourn has swiped 34 bases in 39 tries.
I’m telling you, that’s the difference maker for this team, not another power guy. Power comes and goes. Speed is constant. Power is streaky. Bourn gets on base 4 times out of every 11 at bats. Heck, Uggla has a nice 12 HR’s, but is sporting a frigid .173 AVG. Point made.
As to giving up Beachy, I really like Beachy. I like him alot. But to get quality, you gotta give quality.
If the Braves did not have such an impressive rotation, plus starting depth, I’d say, “No way!”. But that isn’t the case. Plus, a potent offensive weapon helps you 5 out of 5 games, not 1 out of 5 games. And that’s just regular season. That impact is magnified in the playoffs, where Beachy likely gets only 1 start per series.
Heck, we can stand pat and make the playoffs. But with the offense as currently constructed, we’ll never make it out of the Wild Card round…
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And the Braves have announced this afternoon that Martin will start his minor league rehab stint Wednesday in AAA Gwinnett.
The norm is to get about 30 AB’s. That should equate to about 7-8 games. Probably won’t be activated until after the ASB.
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It must be noted, however, that Martin has expressed a very strong desire to be back in the lineup in Philly.
Stranger things have happened.
And it is Martin…
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF (.288 OBP) 😦
2. Gonzo, SS (.237 AVG, and just 2 for last 30 AB with RISP) 😦
3. Mac, C
4. Chipper, 3B 😀
5. Fab5, 1B 😀
6. JHey, RF (is he really slugging just .400?) 😐
7. Struggla, 2B (pick a number; they all suck) 😡
8. N8, LF 😐
9. DLowe, RHP 🙂
It does make you wonder how in the world the Braves have the 2nd best record in the NL…
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It is a little like back to the future as far as lack of scoring in baseball this season. Goes to show you how much of an impact steroids really had.
I would venture to say, no one is more disappointed in Dan Ugglas’ season than Frank Wren. I would also guess no one really saw this coming.
That said, get out the shock collar…
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The boo birds have become a little more vocal of late when Dan strikes out too. Can’t say that I blame the fans really, at some point, a player has to realize they have hit bottom and ask for some help. Maybe he could call Jim Presley.
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It does V, it does.
Gil, remember J.A. Happ??? Not the best comparison, he’s 28 now, but he looked like the next Cole Hamels. Sure made the braves look bad often. He has a 5.65 ERA this year…I guess my weak point is Beachy might be a 15 game winner every year, or not…wow…I am a regular Peter Gammons! 😕
Or Tim K….guess I need to read the book again….
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Jim Presley? Gil, I recall the name(from his playing days) is he a roving hitting coach??? His Father??? They always seem to be good hitting coaches! 🙂
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Ya know, a guy doesn’t just go from All-Star to suck this drastically (unless that guy is Andruw Jones). It’s not like he has forgotten how to hit. At some point, Danny should start to creep back toward his career norm. The obvious question is: when? I personally think he needs to pay a visit to Windward Baseball Academy and have a few sessions with Mac’s dad and brother.
Same with JHey, except different. Sophomore slumps are more normal than not. That’s why they have a name! He’s too talented to continue on his current Francoeurian path.
If either could come around in the second half, it would be as good – even better – than a mid-season trade.
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Tru dat as well…Anyone notice JHey’s new stance?? Well, he stands upright and looks further away from the plate than ever…doesn’t look like an improvement to me…
Oh, did ya’ll notice the Pirates are 1 1/2 games out of first in the central??? good for them! 🙂
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meant to say then JHey dives in, just doesn’t look like a smart change…he his just fine the first two months of last year…
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It would not be the first time a player(s) went on a tear after the All-star break. How many times have we seen the opposite? I know in the past, BMac’s bat has slowed down noticeably in Septembers past.
And tired arm syndrome happens in August too. Oh the humanity, we can only pray Dan Uggla doesn’t set a new standard for futility where by hitting .175 becomes known as the Uggla line….
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Pirates have been playing some good baseball, how can you not pull for them a little bit?
Okay, game time, later guys.
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Wow… Mike Cameron goes to the Fish. I see that as a lose/lose.
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… for them, I mean.
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Just win baby….
DLowe was right on until he took his legs out by running the bases.
Someone needs to school Jordan on the art of taking pitches to give your pitcher a rest.
Uggla actually went the other way for a double…. Maybe the tide has turned…
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Gil, I sure hope so! Shoot for .220 Uggla!
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Kimbrell was scary good. His last 2 pitches, for the final strikeout, were clocked at 99. Yikes! 😯
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Nice Braves piece on Through The Fence Baseball:
http://www.throughthefencebaseball.com/braves-march-mclouth-vs-schafer-part-two/8160/
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF 😦
2. Gonzo, SS 😐
3. Mac, C
4. Chipper, 3B 😀
5. F5F, 1B 😀
6. Big Ski, RF (no JHey!) 😯
7. Danny-boy, 2B (coming around..?) 😕
8. N8, LF 😐
9. JJ, RHP 😎
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Call me a pessimist but with the way players get hurt these days, I think it is premature to worry about the Schafer/McLouth/Prado conundrum until the time actually come to make a move. Wilkin Ramariz is the only guy who really has to worry about staying on the major league roster. That said, Schafer will be better off in Gwinnett getting regular at-bats than sitting on the bench and being used to pinch run. He is also the only guy with options…
So…. I am more concerned with Venters right now than I am about the Braves outfield mix. Something is different and I am not sure just what at this point but something is different. He has picked up a new pitch, some type of cutter that tails in on left handers and away from righties. It is almost like some of the stuff Moylan throws. What am not seeing is that wicked disappearing sinker of his.
Just saying, if I can see it, someone else (Braves coaching staff) should be seeing it too. Too many hard hit fly balls for me.
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That ball Danny just hit went a long way… 😮
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Is it too early to hope that Uggla has turned the corner? I’m thinking Schafer did some inner reflection and realized that he is responsible for his own fate. Yes, chicks do dig the long ball but old baseball guys like me dig the lead-off man getting on base by any means possible.
Save the homeruns for BP..
Brian McCann stays hot and Old Man Chipper can still poke one out on you when you are not looking.
JJ was not as spectacularly sharp as his last outing but pretty solid just the same. Just what you want in a starting pitcher.
Max PatkinGeorge Sherrill might make a useful contribution to this team yet…LikeLike
Yeah, getting 2 homers a night, that and good starting pitching, really helps a team win more games than they lose! 😉
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So, when your leadoff and #2 hitters are getting on base, and your 3rd and 4th hitters are raking, you score alot of runs.
It sounds so elementary.
It is.
I think we all know that the 1 and 2 spots are the key to making the Braves offense go. Prado will be back soon at #2. So the “wild card” (pun fully intended) is the leadoff spot.
Schafer is such a tease… like last night. That is exactly what he is capable of. But can he be consistent? When I wear my rose colored glasses, I think he can. But I prefer contact lenses, and the more pragmatic side of me says I can’t trust him do it often enough.
This is why Frank has white hair…
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Joe Pawlikowski at Fangraphs:
Michael Bourn
It’s not often that a team makes available its WAR leader, but in Bourn it is probably the smart move. He will become a free agent after the 2012 season, and so can provide more value to an acquiring team than a mere rental. He’ll also fetch a decent bounty in prospects, since plenty of teams would love a leadoff-hitting, base-stealing center fielder who plays solid, if not spectacular, defense. He has the remainder of his $4.4 million salary this year, plus a third-year arbitration raise in 2012, and so will not be too great a burden on a reasonably sized payroll.
If the White Sox want to make a run they could find use for Bourn. It would allow them to move the struggling Alex Rios to a corner, thereby removing Juan Pierre from the lineup. The Nationals could be interested, but they probably want someone under team control a bit longer than Bourn, since they’re looking for a long-term answer. But perhaps the most intriguing option is the Braves. They’ve used Jordan Schafer and Nate McLouth to little positive effect. In Bourn they’d get both the center fielder and the leadoff man they’ve sought for years. It almost makes too much sense.
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Note to self: Don’t go across the street reading post before taking antidepressants…
On the Bourn identity thingee, I have no doubts the Braves are talking with the Astros about a possible trade. I’m pretty sure Wren is a smart baseball man but when it comes down to it, I think the two sides are just haggling over price.
I imagine any trade would include either McLouth or Schafer going back the other way and pitching. Like I said, they are just haggling over price.
The Astros would like to get Jair and Frank would like to give them Kershin.
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And I think he is wrong about the affects of Schafer and McLouth, Both have been very positive, just not often enough. Still, not sure how many more games the Braves could have won with someone different playing center field. I mean really, how many more games would the Braves have won last month with Prado in the line up?
I think what has been so maddening is how much potential this team really has. Getting Uggla hot and Heyward playing up to his potential would be a huge boost.
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The Nationals would love to have a player with Niger Morgans’ skill set but without the drama. The guy was/is a basket case. I would hate to be trapped in a elevator with him and Yunel Escobar for 15 minutes.
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Getting Uggla hot and Heyward playing up to his potential would be a huge boost.
The Rockies would agree. 😆
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Happy Birthday FBG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY FBG… We miss you…
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Big series coming up this weekend. 2 out of 3 would be big for either team but as the Braves put distance between themselves and the next closest wild card team, a sweep by either club would not be earth shattering nor surprising.
If the team will just concentrate on striking the ball well and not try for 500 foot homeruns, I think they will do just fine.
And wasn’t that double hit to right yesterday by Uggla a thing of beauty? I think his baseball card numbers are toast this year but he can be a huge second half force for the Braves this season. No September swoon this year….
Good to know Prado’s mother is coming to stay with him. She got her visa approved for up to 10 years. I expect Marteen to look more like the guy we saw the beginning of last season. I still think he is best suited for the 2 spot. Move Alex down in the order where he does not hurt the offense.
I’m not sure but he may be showing wear and tear from many seasons. It does not appear that Julio Lugo hurts the team and I expect him to play at least one game at short this weekend. If a day off is needed by Heyward at age 22, what of AGon?
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Oh yeah, is everyone still clamoring for Reyes across the street?
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Reyes? No thanks.
And his being on the DL with another leg injury (his doctor, not the team’s, but his doctor says the leg needs 3 weeks of rest) doesn’t help his stock any.
Hey, the guy’s a great talent, no doubt. But he’s not exactly propelling the Mets anywhere, now is he?
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Besides, SS is not our problem. I’ll take a great catch and throw SS like Gonzo all day long. Not batting, #2, but I’ll take him.
CF is the catalyst.
Michael Bourn.
Michael Bourn.
Michael Bourn.
😀
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So, just indulge me here…
Imaginary lineup:
1. Michael Bourn, CF (L) (.350 OBP / 35 SB)
2. Marteeen, LF (R)
3. Mac, C (L)
4. Chipper, 3B (S)
5. F5F, 1B (L)
6. Danny-boy, 2B (R)
7. JHey, RF (L)
8. Gonzo, SS (R)
Sweetness.
Mac and Chipper are pretty much interchangeable at 3/4, but I like it this way. And it even plays to Freddie’s alternating L/R tendency.
Look, it’s a pretty simple match. They want a young ML ready pitcher; we have one. We need a speedy CF; they have one.
It simply comes down to details.
They’ll ask for Teheran, we’ll say Minor. They’ll keep asking for Teheran; we’ll keep saying Minor. They’ll “talk to other teams”, and Frank will say, “Find another pitcher as talented as Minor.” They won’t because they can’t, and in the end, Minor it will be. Likely, it’ll be Minor plus Schafer. And that’s OK because Schafer is the odd man out with Bourn on board anyway.
Get ‘er done, Frank. Get ‘er done…
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Why address CF and not SS,? Because we have a SS a couple years away in the pipeline; same can’t be said for CF.
Tyler Pastornicky is playing really well in AA Pearl, batting .297/.343/.421 with 6 HR, 36 RBI and 19 SB. He’s a RH, and is just 21 years old.
I can see him in ATL in 2013. By the way, he came our way along with Gonzo for Headcase Escobar. Nice job, Frank.
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Man, I could get used to winning every night! 😛
V, what do you really think about the Bourn Supremacy?? 😉
Hey, I’m all for it, and it sounds like you have the right set of actions to happen, if Houston trades him. Still not sure how he’s not a free agent after this year, unless Houston bought up a year of his free agent time…
Oh, Happy B Day FBG! 🙂
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Regarding Bourn, there is one very interesting stat that cannot be overlooked.
Strikeouts.
Jordan Schafer has K’d 32 times in 157 AB’s, or 1 out of every 4.9 AB’s.
Michael Bourn has K’d 70 times in 351 AB’s, or 1 out of every 5.0 AB’s.
😯
Now… that is very interesting. It almost makes me want to just stick with Mr. Schafer. While Bourn’s OBP is .350 thus far this season, his career OBP is .334. Schafer’s 2011 OBP is .300, with a career OBP of .307. Outside of those 2 numbers, their stats are remarkably similar. Oh, that and Schafer has more power.
Just a thought to temper my own zeal…
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It’s kinda crazy when you debate yourself, huh? 🙄
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SI’s Jon Heyman:
The Braves aren’t openly shopping Derek Lowe, but with Julio Teheran and Mike Minor thriving at Triple-A, there’s little question that they would listen to any outside interest.
Uh… duh! 🙄
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More Heyman:
It’s amazing that the Braves are where they are considering they’ve received virtually no help from Dan Uggla or Jason Heyward. Heyward had his first big game in quite a while in the Braves’ win on Thursday (in May, he had more MRIs than RBIs, two to one), so that’s a positive step.
😆
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“The Braves aren’t openly shopping Derek Lowe, but with Julio Teheran and Mike Minor thriving at Triple-A, there’s little question that they would listen to any outside interest.”
Yep, and I’d bet they would throw in Kersin as a freebi too… 🙂 Kind of a buy one, get one deal….
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On Bourn, I saw that K stat too and thought, all things being equal, you may as well stick with the kid they have, not going to be a lot of difference but quite a bit more money. Who knows if Schafer might not get it turned around at the plate, he is still pretty young and green out there.
We also don’t know what kind of financial constraints Frank Wren is faced with. Sometimes you just have to pick up the ball and put it in your pocket.
If Jordan would concentrate on hitting the ball into the turf, his BA would climb 100 points. Hard to get that across to a kid who wants to hit homers. It is that long ball mentality which allows opposing pitchers to get him out.
What’s the saying? Life is tough, it’s even tougher when you are stupid…
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Thanks, y’all. I have GOT to get here more often.
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Well, poop! That’s not what they’re supposed to do on my birthday.
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What, they pooped on your birthday??? I just woke up, have a lot of cobwebs in the ol’ noggin… 😕
This post not included, yes, you need to come by more often! Lately its just been the V/Berigan/Gil show, with very occasional guest star, CL!
We had Doc on the ropes a lot last night, just couldn’t seem to get the big hit against him. Not the first team unable to do that. Whats that make, 42, or 43 straight games of 6 or more innings??? Now that’s amazing.
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Here’s the thing about Proctor, his fast ball is as straight as an arrow. Sure, he can hump it up there about 95 mph but when you are throwing laser beams. somebody is going to bounce one back at you, I told the wife, right before Ibenez hit that gopher ball, “here comes a homer”… Should have picked lottery numbers last night.
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Good win today… Of course, any win is a good one.
And Chipper did what I predicted. Good for him.
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I think Chipper put up with the knee as long as he felt he could help the team. Once it hampered him enough to bring his play below what he considers acceptable it was time to fix it. I don’t know how he was playing on a torn meniscus & cracked kneecap . Ouch!
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I think we all knew he’d get it fixed over the ASB. All the talk otherwise was just a smokescreen by the FOT’s so as to not tip the team’s hand.
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FBG?? Is that really you?? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 😀
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Wow, when Cliff Lee hit that homer, I thought, not going to be the braves day…nice to be wrong, quite wrong! 🙂
I heard Ken Rosenthal mention the crack in the knee cap, and needing it to be fused, but I still don’t think DOB has mentioned it, at least not on the updated story he has…
V, FOT’s????
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FOT’s: Front Office Types
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V, ah, I gotcha! 🙂
Oh Dr. Gil, (or anyone else with an answer) I was helping a friend hunt down an alternator yesterday…was out in the heat a fair bit, naturally sweated a good deal…thought that was why my thighs were sore…nope, I have to bumps that look like they have whiteheads on them…one is just that a bump, the other is getting redder and bigger…was pea sized now I don’t know, perhaps marble sized??? Doesn’t itch at all…didn’t pull part, it was hanging in a warehouse, so really only could have gotten at friends house when I was sitting on steps leading into a room, looking at a paper jam in a shredder….Gil, instead of a spider bite, could I just get a a staff infection out of the blue like this??? Really can’t afford to go to an E.R. place….thanks for any suggestions…
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Doesn’t sound anything like staph, Ber. Sounds like a bite of some sort. I recommend Benadryl cream…
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Gil, thanks…I am thinking it might be a boil now…had one a few years back in an unfortunate area…didn’t have two though…time will tell. Fun issues you get when you age, eh? 😕
Can’t walk much or ride my stationary bike(Diabetic) but other than that, no problems! 😉
Now baseball…umm, err…we had a good first half!
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Yep, that’s what happens when someone opens an old fashion can of wup a** on ya. So much for bull pen ERA…
No Berigan, lots of possibilities but the best thing is clean them well with alcohol preps and apply a triple antibiotic ointment. A lot of it comes for the heat. Being diabetic, however, you can’t fool around because you are prone to infections that can spread.
That said, if it persist, have it taken care of….
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Ha! Sorry V, It just sounded like Gil, when I read it!
Gil, yeah, I always fear infections, needless to say…both bumps are much better today, I dont’ have to walk like I just rode a horse for 72 straight hours! 😕
Of course, my feet are now swollen…had this issue 3-4 years ago, summertime problem it seems…have cut down on my salt, but it’s in everything, in case you didn’t know that.
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Sitting here trying to decide whether to watch the home-run derby or not. I think it is having to listen to Berman that gets to me.
It is suppose to get up to 98 here tomorrow. That’s hot no matter where you are, especially when the humidity kicks in. Sounds like a good day to keep the doors closed and the blinds drawn.
Been trying to come up with an idea for a new blog lead. Something that does not require that I actually have to do any research. Sort of like writing for the New York Times….
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Good morning all, some take aways for me in this years ASG…
Never underestimate the value of the three run homer
Joe Buck has lost it as an announcer, at least Skip was still entertaining when he got old.
Jonny Venters looked sharp against the two batters he faced, Kimbrel missed BMac behind the dish.
On Joe Buck’s excuses for the AL in not having their best pitchers available for last night’s game, they brought their bats didn’t they? Besides, Tommy Hansen wasn’t there either.
Freddie Freeman would have made that pick on the low throw in the ninth by the Cubs SS.
The official score was very generous on a couple of mis-played balls in the field in calling them hits.
I miss Dizzy Dean, Pee-wee Reese and a score of other announcers who could have done a better job last night.
I could give a rat’s behind about the swimming pool behind the centerfield fence or Justin Timberlake or any other movie star who had tickets comped to last night’s game.
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Gil, I think this explains some of the issues with Joe Buck
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/dan-caesar/article_de54eaeb-e278-5f2d-b425-3e912f6fb0ae.html
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I thought he sounded different… I guess I can give him props for effort. Still, I hate it when they ignore the game for some lame promo. I’d rather listen to Kevin Millar be an idiot.
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So Joe Buck has a vocal issue. Big deal. He still gets to work, and he still draws an enormous paycheck to watch baseball and talk about it. He can sell somebody else on the “struggle” of it all. Let him try to earn a regular living in this p*** poor economy and then he can come crying to me for my sympathy.
And his nerve issue has no effect on his style or lack thereof. He comes across to me as nothing more than a mouthpiece for the network. Like Gil said, he compromised the game too often to make flip star-struck observations.
I get it… it’s an exhibition. So if it’s just an exhibition, then he shouldn’t keep crying about the lack of AL pitchers. I hate a double standard…
And don’t even get me started on McCarver.
I guess we are all just a little bit spoiled from having Skip, Pete, Ernie and all the others for so many years. Heck, it’s gotten so bad without ’em, I’ve even started to like Don Sutton a little. And I really like Jim Powell. He is an interesting announcer. Too bad he has such a generic “radio” voice. If his voice had as much personality as his announcing, he’d be perfect. But, alas, they don’t let anyone in the biz anymore unless they have that trained “radio” voice. Dizzy Dean and Pee-Wee Reese could have never broken into the business today. Neither could have Mel Allen, Ernie Harwell or Vin Scully. Nor Harry or Skip.
And just imagine Georgia football without Larry “the Legend” Munson. Oh, wait… we have that already. We have Scott Howard. And Scott Howard is as generic as they come. It’s like going into Baskin Robins 31 Flavors and only having 31 versions of vanilla to choose from. Bleh.
A sad state of affairs indeed…
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Hmmm… Medlin has to shut it down for 6 weeks. No structural issues, the elbow just needs rest. Too bad. Braves could sure use him (instead of Proctor) in the ‘pen.
This could shift Frank’s focus. We need another righty in the ‘pen badly!
Fortunately, RHRP is one of the relatively available commodities this year. Oakland’s Grant Balfour would probably be available, and we’re missing our current Aussie…
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To be honest, just getting Moylan back should be a huge boost. Proctor has the velocity to be a good reliever, he needs to develop a cutter or slider or something off speed so hitters would stop zeroing in on his flat as a table fastball.
I thought Gearing was the victim of a couple of seeing eye ground balls last Saturday and all of a sudden he no longer trusted his stuff. It t’was ugly…
Anyone remember the All-star game where Tom Glavin gave up six straight ground ball singles? Of course he was pitching with a cracked rib but who are we to judge?
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Yes, Medlin just got a little over eager me thinks. It happens, it would be nice to get him back but it would be nicer to have him back at full strength next spring. Gives us someone to look forward to.
I’m not expecting Marteen to light up the scoreboard too much either upon his return. It will take a while.
Anyone notice the difference in the timetable for the return of Chipper Jones and that of A-Rod? Chipper has said 2-3 weeks, A-Rod says 4-6 weeks. Same surgery… I think A-Rod is just tired of playing baseball in the shadow of Derrek Jeter.
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V, I don’t get the “hate”….Sure, he’s not his Dad, not by a long shot…but he’s a hard worker, has tried to broadcast thru the problem….and didn’t he have to say why his voice was messed up??? I first noticed the problem months ago, and when he still had it months later I thought, man, I wonder if he has throat Cancer…I don’t think he was saying, hey I want your sympathy here, pity me…
Although the virus is gone, the nerve hasn’t fully recovered as he still deals with what remains of the condition. Buck has made significant recovery, which he estimates at 85-90 percent, but he still isn’t able to hit the high inflections at times during excitable moments on the field and is taking singing lessons as part of his rehabilitation process.
Gil, haven’t we all had bosses make us do stupid things??? But yeah, ignoring the game is Stoopid….
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Gil, Proctor was Torre’s favorite overused pitcher, for 2-3 years… how could he have pitched in the AL East with that straight fastball?? Weird…
Yawn….a non difference maker, how exciting…from MLBTR
The Braves would like to acquire an affordable right-handed bat without handing over top prospects, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Yep, and I’m sure all the other GMs in baseball are lining up to make offers….
My guess is they are all laughing too hard to pick up the phone…
Ber, that is a very good question and probably answers it with your observation of being over used, My guess is he is unable/unwilling to torque the ball to make it spin. Once bitten, twice shy. Kinda of like Medlin now, but different.
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Nice piece on Chipper:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/07/14/chipper-jones-doesnt-want-to-let-october-pass-without-him/
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Yes Raisins, I read that earlier. It is why I think he will take the farewell tour next season. It could be pretty special.
Having watched Chipper grow up in the organization and seeing the “Great 8” when they blew thru Richmond on their way to the majors, I can understand how folks must have felt about players like Eddie Mathews and Johnny Sain. I was still pretty young when Micky Mantle was a star. Probably the only time in my life when I was a Yankee fan. I didn’t start rooting for the Braves until 1967. Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago now.
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Fredi says they’ll activate Martin before tomorrow night’s game to open the second frame.
😐
Do I look surprised?
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Fredi says they’ll activate Martin before tomorrow night’s game to open the second frame.
😐
Do I look surprised?
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Twins!!! 😀
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Attention ESPN!!!! Braves still third most popular team in US…. So why all the Philles and Mets games?
Attendance down in Atlanta… Well, when you have an area hit as hard by the recession as Georgia, it is hard for local fans to pony up the extra cash.
Viewership lower on Peachtree TV. I love Brian Jordan but his announcing skills suck….
Braves sign Gilmartin, terms of contract undisclosed… Okay kid, look for you in about a year. Go learn how to pitch…
Proctor still the weak link in the bullpen… DUH… Braves, however, hate to give up on a guy who can throw 95mph, time for Roger to teach this guy a new pitch that has a wrinkle in it. Hey, I’m not a pitching coach or a scout but I know you can’t teach power, you can teach a cutter or change.
Cory Gearing’s slider/cutter has lost some of it’s bite. Tired arm maybe? I don’t look for Medlen to be back this season, but I have high expectations for 2012.
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I thought about taking in a braves game when I take two of my grandsons to Florida in August, depends on the weather, do you guys think it might be hot then? 🙂
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Hello Martin!!!
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Two nice swings, just at em balls… They’ll soon fall in
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10,000 wins. Not too shabby.
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PHL = .630
BOS = .611
ATL = .591
Oh, for a healthy Chipper et al!
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10,000 Wins! one of three teams! Congrats Braves! 🙂
So very nice to see Livan get knocked around a bit, wasn’t it??? Of course, errors played a pretty big roll, but whatevs.
Gil, didn’t you say you expected it to take awhile for Prado to find his groove at the plate??? If that’s cold, I’ll take it. 🙂
Well, team might not want to give up on 95 MPH guys, but they sure gave up on 100 MPH guy(s) well, the one we had, Chris Resop. Finally having an ok year in Pittsburgh for the……1st place Pirates! Who could have predicted that???
It will be fine in Florida Gil, no worries at all! 😛
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Last night’s game kind of washed out the bad taste from that shellacking the Braves took at the hands of the Phillies last Sunday.
Of course, all those errors. Hard for any team to over come that. Still, I think the one Schafer bounced off Morse in the first should have goon as a base hit an an error on the throw.
I think teams are surprized as to how fast the infield is in Atlanta in the summer. The ball can get by you in a hurry.
That Prado is a hoss isn’t he? 4 really hard hit balls, maybe his return pumped up everyone.
It’s not my call but I would like to see the Braves use Prado as a super sub for the rest of this season. It would help keep the guys fresh thru the long hot summer. He can play a lot of positions.
I think Lugo should get a little bit more playing time at short too. A-Gon has got to be running low on bats by now.
Just keep winning, the race with the Phillies will take care of itself. As long as you keep putting up W’s, no one can catch you from behind. Advance one game per week guys, one game per week….
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One final comment about last night’s contest and I will put it to bed….
Henry Rodriquez, relief pitcher who came in for the Nats in the 8th… Woo wee, anyone catch the heaters he was throwing up there? A couple hit the 101mph mark. I think the should work with this kid on backing down a couple of mph to help his control because he has closer stuff. Just a tad bit wild which gets him in trouble. You can teach control but you sure can’t teach triple digit velocity.
If I were a GM for a contending team, I’d be asking about him.
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It’s not my call but I would like to see the Braves use Prado as a super sub for the rest of this season. It would help keep the guys fresh thru the long hot summer. He can play a lot of positions.
I agree completely. He could give Chipper, Danny, Freddie, Nate and Jordan each a day off per week, as well as having a day off himself. Those rest days will have a positive effect during the September grind. One of Bobby’s greatest talents was that of giving his veterans regular rest. He always played the whole roster.
I have decided that I am good with regular 8 (+1) as is currently constituted. Maybe add a veteran RH off the bench and a RHP to the ‘pen to replace Proctor…
I really like this team, including Nate and Jordan. Call me crazy, but it seems to be working. I realize they aren’t putting up eye-popping stats, but the team is winning. Plus, offensive stats are down across baseball. It’s not just our guys.
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Right handed bat…how about Willy Mo Pena?? Did ya know he was back? Briefly?? In 46 AB’s for the Diamondbacks he had 5 homers, 2 of which were game winners. They just sent him back down…I haven’t heard why…actually, they DFA’ed him…wonder if he was a bad presence in the dugout?? Can’t field??? Doesn’t make sense. but, he’d sure make sense coming off our bench.
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Yes, he would make sense as a PH. Cheap too…
In the back ground of the shot of Frank Wren in his suite during last night’s game, the TV was tuned to the game between the A’s and the Angles. Makes you wonder who they are scouting…. Is Willingham playing yet?
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I was blessed with having to listen to the National’a broadcast last night ( I am in their broadcast zone) so the Atlanta feed is blacked out. Anyway, they pretty much like the Braves team as constituted. I think we saw what a difference it makes when Heyward and Uggla hit. I think they were most impressed by Freddi Freeman. I had to agree, he had a couple of real smart at-bats last night. That two run double he hit to left center was a thing of beauty.
On the Prado thingee, I think he is such a pro that he would accept a role as a super sub without so much as a whimper if Freddie G approached him and told him what and why. I think it would make so much sense on so many levels to do it. He would still get his at-bats as well as everyone else and it would allow guys to be ready for the big push in September.
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Right handed bat…how about Willy Mo Pena?? Did ya know he was back? Briefly?? In 46 AB’s for the Diamondbacks he had 5 homers, 2 of which were game winners. They just sent him back down…I haven’t heard why…actually, they DFA’ed him…wonder if he was a bad presence in the dugout?? Can’t field???
Well, you are partially right. They brought him up specifically to be their DH during their interleague schedule. And that was it. Interleague is done; Wily Mo is no mo.
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Hello Stuffville! How’s everyone’s summer coming along? Staying cool…warm….sweating a lot?
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Hey, Salty!!! Great to see you! I heard someone say today that she wasn’t sweating bullets. She was sweating water balloons!
Actually we here in southeastern NC are having a break from the 112 degree temps. This afternoon I had the windows open. Normally unheard of in mid-July.
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Whew, those pesky Gnats don’t appear to realize they are suppose to lose. Glad to see the Braves offense arrive. Just in time for the pitching to take a hiatus.
So, next up is the Rockies for the conclusion of the inter office match up for the coveted Liberty Media ‘Satellite Dish’
Drop by more often Salty, we miss ya…
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OK… I have been mega busy these last few days. (Less than 2 weeks until Mrs. Raisins and the Raisinettes have to go back to school. Trying to get it all in , ya know?) I even missed most the Nats series.
Anyway, today I keep seeing the “DLowe to Detroit” rumors. BTW – love his reaction to it all. What I have missed, though, is who we are supposedly getting back.
So… who are we supposedly getting back?
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Great question, no clue here…
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If DLowe is traded, it will be for salary relief…I’m sorry, but he is 38, and after a 3.86 ERA in April, it was 4.86 in May, 4.41 in June, and 5.56 in July so far. He’s gone 7 innings exactly twice this year. He’s owed, what about 7 million more this year, and $15 million next year, at 39???
Though, is this the same dopey Detroit GM that traded JJ to us??? I guess anything is possible if it is the same guy! 😉
And Salty, you need to post more than once every 3 months!
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I’ve unfortunately been reading some of the goofy opinions over across the street. Seriously… where do some of those folks come from?
If those folks collectively were the GM, we’d send JHey back to AA, release Nate, trade Schafer for anything that causes a fog on a mirror, and let Randall Delgado and Christian Bethancourt go to the Mets for 3 moths of gimpy former star OF with ridiculous salary demands. They’d also release Uggla and trade anyone back to Fla. for Omar. By the way, these are the same people who say that Frank screwed up the Rafael Furcal debacle (which was completely of Furcal’s doing, thank God), that he messed up the Burnett negotiations (which again were Burnett’s doing, thank God), and is responsible for giving up prized prospects for 1 year of Teixeira (which was John S., and which is essentially what they want to do for Beltran). It’s so freakin’ ridiculous, I shouldn’t even dignify it’s presence with a mention here.
But you can’t ignore the reality.
You want my opinion?
I’d trade DLowe for salary relief even if we didn’t get much help back for this year. Our guys are getting the job done. We’re winning games now, and that’s the goal of every franchise, even if the basement dwelling stat-noobs don’t realize it. I mean, they have the 2nd best record in the NL and 3rd best in all of MLB. They’ll have Chipper and his unreal RISP hitting back in a week and Chipper and Martin in the same lineup for the first time since… well, in a long time, anyway.
Are they perfect? No. But who is? Unless there is an real impact move to be made, which there likely isn’t, why give away a top prospect for someone who’s nothing more than slightly better than whatcha got?
But I’d trade DLowe if the right deal were to materialize. We have 5 very good starters now, and 2 perfect #5 candidates waiting in the wings. And most people seem to forget that any move made now is as much for October as for August and September. When you get to October, you only use 4 starters, if that. But your offense is on the field every night, and against better pitchers every game than you see in the regular season. There won’t be any Jason Hammel’s in the playoffs.
This team needs a veteran RH bench bat and a veteran RHRP. And probably not in that order. That’s what we need.
Now, wants… that’s different…
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Since it’s not my money, I really don’t care what they have to pay Derek Lowe. It is only important to me if Liberty Media is going to allow the money saved to be plowed back into the organization in the form of player who is actually worth the type of serious coin we are speaking of to acquire and not someone who is just a roll of the dice and hope it works out kind of guy.
Bullpen relief? Depends on how soon and how effective Moylan is going to be upon his return. I think the timetable is set for mid August but who knows how long before he is back to form. That might not be until next year. Otherwise, put Lowe in the pen. At least for the short duration, the guy has done it before. As long as he is getting paid, I don’t think it make a difference to him. His retirement is set, he knows he is not ever going to see another $15 million a year contract after 2012.
I keep reading across the street how ineffective Schafer is but is he really? I think he is still just inexperienced. He lost about 1000 at bats by my estimation in the past two years. Look how long it took Lillibridge to develop. He is still learning how and when to hit. Otherwise, be happy we have a decent defensive guy in centerfield.
Same goes for Heyward. He is still just a kid, I think in this day and age of instant gratification, everyone thinks a player should be ready at age 18. I’m just glad Freeman is productive. People seem to forget that it only takes a couple of guys to carry a team. Somebody is always going to be in a slump. What other sport thinks you are highly successful when you only fail 70% of the time…. ?
This may be a lost season for J-Hey, maybe he will yet get it together but personally, I don’t think he has ever really experienced failure and he is not sure how to cope with it at this point. He has steadfastly refused to make an adjustment to his hitting approach despite the fact that pitchers around the league have adjust to him. You can’t make a living in the majors waiting for pitchers to make mistakes and hitting your bat. Maybe his feelings got hurt when Chipper called him out, didn’t the same thing happen to Chipper when Smoltz got on him a few years ago?
It is all part of the maturing process, Unfortunately, Jason has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Too bad there is no ‘black’ superstar on the team to take Jason aside and give it to him straight.
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Just say “NO” to Beltran…
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If I’m not mistaken, the wish list is for a RH batter that can hit lefties like Lee and Hamels, right?
Carlos Beltran hitting stats:
vs. LHP .232 AVG, .291 OBP, .547 SLG, 8 HR’s, 19 K’s (Upgrade? Really?)
vs. RHP .309 AVG, .414 OBP, .498 SLG, 6 HR’s, 39 K’s
Mystery player #1:
vs. LHP .173 AVG, .271 OBP, .333 SLG, 2 HR’s, 18 K’s (Ew!)
vs. RHP .247 AVG, .341 OBP, .426 SLG, 7 HR’s, 35 K’s
Mystery player #2:
vs. LHP .315 AVG, .357 OBP, .640 SLG, 8 HR’s, 17 K’s (Clear winner vs. LHP)
vs. RHP .247 AVG, .294 OBP, .384 SLG, 5 HR’s, 52 K’s
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So… who are the aforementioned Mystery Men?
Well, Mystery Man #1 is our current RF Jason Heyward. Maybe instead of finding another LF, we find a platoon partner for RF.
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Mystery Man #2 is…
… former RF Jeff Francoeur.
Would you rather give up a top prospect for 3 months of Carlos Beltran and the remainder of his bloated contract, or would you rather have 3 months of Mr. Francoeur for a mid-level prospect at less than 1/4 of what Beltran costs?
Not advocating anything, just sayin’.
But I’d take him for the stretch run knowing there is no commitment beyond this season, wouldn’t you? A platoon of Heyward/Francoeur for the rest of this year would not be too shabby.
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Not to mention all the folks who could dust off their Francouer jerseys. Think Brooksie would be willing to give up his number to Frenchy?
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That said, I wonder if KC would not rather give up Melky?
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Marteeen, 3B
3. Mac, C
4. ROY, 1B
5. Danny boy, 2B
6. Big Ski, LF
7. Gonzo, SS
8. N8, RF
9. Beachy, RHP
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Yikes! Just turned the game on… kinda wish I hadn’t. 😯
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🙂 Haven’t been there in years now, but I’m sure nothing has changed except a couple of names. I’m convinced that the great majority of those posting there have, for the first time in their lives, found a platform on which they can speak out – whether they actually have anything to say or not. Most just like to make noise and see their ‘name’ in print. Big dogs (in their own minds).
Then, there are the very few and rare who have some baseball savvy and express their views/points quite eruditely.
But NONE of them come up to the quality, insight and pure personality as the gentlemen who blog here!
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Ah…. flattery will get you everywhere…
Now about last night’s game, Beachy turned in a rookie performance and showed why trading Lowe might not be such a good idea. It was my perspective that Brandon’s slider/curve was hanging and nearly every time he tossed it, it went very far the opposite way. That and the strike zone was pretty small. No problems with his fast ball, but his breaking pitches just did not break all that much.
I believe either he or McCann was thinking too much and rather than just challenge hitters, he would try to get cute after getting to two strikes and nibble the corners. The Rockies just waited for him to get to a pitch they could hit or took a walk, What, didn’t the Braves walk like 12 guys last night?
Solo homeruns don’t mean very much when the other team has a 7 run lead.
Rule of thumb…. Your ace(s) are expected to give you a great performance everytime out, maybe one or two bad starts a year. Your number 3 guy a good performance 2 out of every three starts, Your number 4 about 50/50 and your number 5 guy one out of every 3 starts. It is when your 4 and 5 guys continue to put up quality starts that you build a winning record.
Every good team tries to bring at least one rookie into the line up each season to build continuity, starting two or three every game and you are lucky to get into the post season.
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Very interesting about the mystery players V!
Who’d ever think we’d see the day where Frenchy or Melky would look like upgrades?
I am truly at a loss to figure out what’s up with Heyward. Did you all see where DOB quoted Heyward saying….well, let me find the quote (Heyward said, when I asked recently, that he’s no further back from the plate than he ever was, and that he can still easily extend his long arms and cover the entire plate. He likes to stand back from the plate so that pitchers can’t pitch him inside so much.) Come on now! Now he looks like the left handed Matt Diaz almost! Man, it was much harder to find than you would think, but found video of the first home run. Does he now look at all like the 2010 Heyward??? No one show him video???
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CL, aww shucks, we are great, aren’t we???
Honestly, I don’t know why folks like 10paul , Hillbilly, etc don’t post here…because we can have honest discussions, even disagree with each other…civilly! the only thing this forum needs is more posters, sane posters…
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My son had a poster of Dale, Jr. in his room once, but he took it down because no one here cares about racing…
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I care Raisins but I’m a Denny Hamlin fan… Ms Josie is still in morning over Dale Sr. She has not really paid much attention except to hate on Kyle Bush… Funny thing, I told folks 3 years ago Kyle would become the racer everyone hoped Dale Jr would become but they laughed at me.
Junior lost his nerve, Kyle continues to do things he shouldn’t with a race car because he is too young to know any better. His day with the wall will come, it always does….
Now baseball… listening to the Nats and the Stros in the bottom of the 9th. I think the Nats have a couple of guys who co help the Braves but I don’t things have been all that cordial between Frank Wren and Mike Rizzo. Who knows why…
Carlos Beltron??? I don’t know about that one, depends on where you play him and how much he cost in return. Thing is, anyone who is really an up grade is going to cost a bunch. How much of a boost is a healthy Chipper going to be? Has the real Dan Uggla shown up or is this just a teaser? Does J-Hey need an attitude adjustment to make him understand he has to make an adjustment? Did he get stars in his eyes from all the platitudes last season.
I got roundly chastised by the crowd across the road when I opined that Freddie Freeman may be to Jason Heyward like Brian McCann was to Jeff Francouer. Once upon a time, outfielders did not really come into their own until they were about 27-28 years old.
Trivia Quiz of the day… Who did the Braves have to give up to get Fred McGriff?
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A: Melvin Nieves and Donnie Elliott, neither of whom amounted to anything…
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It would be the equivalent of us trading Wilkin Ramirez and J.B. Oberholtzer for Hunter Pence.
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Can we get that done? 😀
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I’d stick Pence in RF and let JHey go work things out in Gwinnett. Seriously. I’m not kidding.
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Dobey’s Twitter: Sounds as if the #Braves could be close to making a deal for a RH bat
http://twitter.com/#!/ajcbraves/status/93780789673725952
Who is it?
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The Tigers picked up Wilson Betemit today. Things are starting to happen.
I love this time of year!!! 😀
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V, get ‘er dun! 🙂
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From MLBTR
Astros Willing To Trade Hunter Pence
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 20 at 5:54pm CST]
The Astros are showing a willingness to trade Hunter Pence, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (on Twitter). Rival executives expect GM Ed Wade to trade Pence, Olney reports.
The Braves, who may be close to acquiring a right-handed bat, have enough prospects to pry Pence away from Houston. However, Atlanta has interest in Jonny Gomes and others, including Carlos Beltran. The Pirates have also been eyeing Pence, who will cost a lot in terms of prospects.
Pence, 28, is hitting .315/.356/.478 with 11 home runs. The two-time All-Star is under team control through 2013, but he won’t be cheap. He earns $6.9MM this year, so a $10MM payday is within reach next year, with another raise likely in 2013.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/astros-willing-to-trade-hunter-pence.html
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If not Pence, Jonny Gomes would be a great 2nd choice. He kills lefties, and has a lot of power…
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There was one more player involve Raisins on the McGriff deal.
My point however is you don’t always have to give away the farm…
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The last guy was Vince Moore who never made it above Triple A.
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Funny thing about trading prospects, for every Adam Wainwright traded away, there are dozens of Vince Moores who never pan out.
Sometimes you just have to be willing to pull the trigger
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I’m pretty sure that no matter who the Braves trade away, there will be much teeth gnashing and angst displayed by the denizens across the street on how Frank Wren has traded away the future of the franchise.
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The Braves have acquired Dan Uggla. Finally.
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Good one V
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I actually believe the quality of posts across the street is going DOWN. How can it continually get worse? I have never seen so many doomsayers in my life.
I feel sorry for Mr. O’B. He has to be there…
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Mac just missed that pitch
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Have you ever heard any singer better than Steve Perry?? Now in his 60s he still sounds the same, still has the amazing range and tone – except without Neal Schon and Jon Cain playing – the sound just isn’t ‘right’, somehow.
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Likely why he says he prefers tweeter.
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Uh, a game is still on??? I’ve been working at this keyboard since a little after 7 this morning – and have just closed out the programs I was using. You know what? I’m too tired to watch the last of it!
Why are these hours harder now than they used to be??? I don’t understand that!
😆
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Dumb move, Fredi. CarGo is a star; Wiggy is not. Dumb… just dumb.
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Not to worry CL, the Rockies did not prolong the agony.
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Okay, will wake up in the morning hoping Santa has left an impact player in the Braves’ stocking…
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Tough break (ankle) for the Diamondbacks to lose Stephen Drew for the rest of the season. Another example of how baseball is a dangerous game.
And nothing but a lump of coal in the Braves’ stocking this morning….
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Yo, Ber…. 3 o’clock game today for the Bravos….
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Coal now, but we all know where diamonds come from…
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Ken Rosenthal:
The Atlanta Braves are going to get a hitter.
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OK. We are 10 days from the non-waiver trade deadline, and it appears as though there are several players and teams that will be hooking up. The Braves, Phils and Giants specifically from the NL will all likely make a move of some sort.
So… wanna play a game?
What team acquires which player?
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I’ll start.
The Giants will acquire…
Carlos Beltran.
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The Phils acquire…
Jeff Francoeur
AND
Heath Bell.
That’ll be tough, especially Bell. They need him.
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The Phils WILL acquire…
Jeff Francoeur
AND
Heath Bell.
Still part of the game! 😳
(Dang… miss one word and make a huge mistake.)
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And last but not least, the Braves WILL acquire…
Jonny Gomes
AND
a 2nd tier RHRP we probably have not heard of.
2 problems they’ll have in making their mid-summer deal. They won’t demote JHey to open a spot in the OF, and they won’t trade a valuable enough prospect to get anything better. So, they’ll settle for a one dimensional bench player who is a defensive liability and a younger version of Scott Linebrink.
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JHey needs help. His swing is far off from what he had success with last season.
We are at the same crossroads that we faced with Frenchy. He needed to work things out in the minors rather than in the middle of a playoff hunt. 2 games didn’t help any, and the Braves faded late and missed the playoffs.
What about JHey? He needs to fix some things.
Maybe a complimentary RH bat and a platoon will help him. Maybe that would not be such a bad thing. It might keep some egos from being too bruised.
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As for relievers…
Remember when the Rays used David Price in their pen for a World Series run? That didn’t work out too shabby for them, did it? And now he’s their ace starter.
So… why can’t the Braves utilize Teheran the same way? It won’t stunt his development as a starter; he’s as developed as it gets. His arm is terrific, and for an inning at a time, he’ll be almost as unhittable from the right side as “Every Day Johnny” is from the left side. And then, “Every Day Johnny” can be “Not Nearly Every Day Johnny”.
I’d rather do that, and bring Cristhian Martinez back than give up anything for a mid-level replacement.
Gearrin needs to go back to Gwinnett and Proctor needs to go home. Period.
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And with that, I’ll step down from my soapbox.
For now…
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Milly lost Carlos Gomez to a broken collarbone last night, and they will now enter the OF market.
That’ll drive the prices up a little.
Dadgummit.
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And Uggla is out today with a strained calf, along with Schafer who cannot swing a bat with the jammed finger. (Dadgum headfirst slides!)
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2day’s (early start, Ber!) lineup:
1. Marteeen, 3B
2. JHey, RF
3. Mac, C
4. ROY, 1B
5. Big Ski, LF
6. Brooksie, 2B
7. Gonzo, SS
8. N8, CF
9. Big Red, RHP
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Game time!!!!!!!!!!
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That’s the thing about baseball, in a split second a team can go from contender to pretender. Head first slide, a spike caught in a sprinkler head, an inside fast ball that breaks a finger. And that is just your everyday normal freaky stuff, Who expects mono or staph?
It is what Chipper was trying to get across to Heyward, you are going to have injuries, how you deal with them reveals your character. I hate to say it but I think Heyward in in the back of the box because he is afraid of being hit by the ball. Nobody wants to get hit by the ball but if a pitcher senses your weakness, they are like jackles on a wounded water buffalo.
One thing I can say about Uggla, the guy has no fear… He has finally started hitting the ball to right field too, a very good sign.
I think I would have put Brooksie at third and Prado at 2nd but I guess Freddie wants to show Prado he still has confidence in him.
Okay folks, game time…
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Good blog by DOB today, some good words of wisdom by Larry Parrish on Heyward’s struggles.
Of couse, since we were talking about him today, he hits a two run dinger and save a run with a great catch in right.
Oh, and Fab 5 Freddie hits one to center, gotta love his ROT chances.
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CL, not at all the same singers, but the other famous singin’ Steven of the 70’s, Tyler has amazingly kept must of his high range as well. Someone like Robert Plant lost his ability to hit high notes at the age of 40….
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V, I’ll play…
Gomes to Philly, along with Heath Bell. Gomes would get a lot of AB’s in that heavy left handed lineup. Of course, that’s also why he’d be great in our line up too. I’d love to see Frenchy go to Boston, I think he would do great there, once the take a million pitches philosophy finally took hold. Though the Phils are pretty good at working pitchers too…sounds like Astros want the world for Pence, and why shouldn’t they??? Why would you give up your best player, who is still young???
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Ber, I always loved hearing SP’s voice soaring against the background of Neal’s guitar/s and Jon’s piano. The 3 of them wrote most of Journey’s songs. Jon’s father’s favorite line to him when he was first starting out was “Don’t stop believin’, Jon!” And, in the hands of those three, that mantra became a song of the century.
I was delighted to find that Neal and Jon are not one-dimensional musicians. Schon has written and made solo albums for years that cover everything from jazz-type to R&B to you-name-it. To me, he is far more brilliant in those than in he was/is in the regular Journey stuff. One album I love that says so much in its title is “Beyond the Thunder”.
And Cain is a classically-trained pianist. He too has solo albums out with a very, very wide range of material.
The game was this afternoon????? AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! And I worked so I’d be free by 7 tonight. *kicks own butt* ouch…. not easy to do! *sigh* The hurrier I go the behinder I get.
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OK… I’ll chime in on the “old singer” chat.
How about RUSH? Those guys still tour and play as hard as they ever did, and Geddy Lee looks and sounds like he did when he was 20…
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Geddy Lee looks and sounds like he did when he was 20
Yep, terrible! :p
Sorry, I actually like Rush a lot, but that was low hanging fruit for me! 😉
V, you had mentioned the other day bringing up Teheran as a relief pitcher. And didn’t I hear the other day one of the other 2 stud starters(hey, when they are up here I will know how to spell their names! 🙂 ) was going to pitch out of the bullpen to keep from going too far over projected innings??? Well, if that guy or Teheran do well out of the bullpen in the minors, wouldn’t it make perfect sense to bring them up??? Gil will tell us most teams had their good young starters pitch in the bullpen their first year. Seems to me no good reason to go out and get another arm or two for the bullpen. It would cost too much in prospects, and too many teams need help. Name one team that doesn’t need bullpen arms!
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Joel Sherman, New York Post:
The Mets are all but certain to trade their All-Star right fielder this week. One Mets official described 6-7 active suitors for Beltran. Keep an eye on the farm-rich Braves. I heard the Mets were paying particular attention to Triple-A lefty Mike Minor in his start yesterday against Louisville.
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By the way, in that game Minor went 6 innings, striking out 4 and walking none while giving up 3 earned runs. He was not involved in the decision as the G-Braves scored 4 in the 9th to win 7-6.
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Man, really don’t like the idea of trading within the division…Mike Minor would beat the Braves 3-4 times a year for a decade! Would you guys pull the trigger on that trade???
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Here’s the way I feel… for every Adam Wainright we trade away, there is another Kyle Davies or Bruce Chen (both of whom arrived on the scene with equal or greater fanfare.) We’re talking Mets here…
When was the last time they got the best of any deal? I need only speak the name Jason Bay to make my point. It’s where hyped players go to die.
If we only give up Minor, then I’m OK. If it’s Minor and a mid-level pitcher, I think I’m OK. If it’s Minor and Schafer, not so much. Minor and Nate… I’m good to go.
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I’m afraid when it come to musical groups, once you get away from anyone who played after 1968, I’m out of my league. My hearing is so bad that I can hardly tell the difference. To make up for my auditory deficiencies, I have nearly a poor eyesight, but a heighten sense of smell…. Play a mean pinball too…. 🙂
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Yep, the silly season is upon us and we all hope for a trade like the one that brought Fred McGriff to Atlanta and loath to have another Texiera type deal. Actually, Beltan would be a good fit for the Braves, a short term solution to a short term need.
It appears that nearly every player mentioned also includes the Phillies being interested. One has to wonder how much room they have as far as capital before they go bust, of course, filling the seats to capacity every night goes a long way to selling a lot of beer at $7 a pop.
So, what are the Braves needs? #1 Another relived not named Scot Proctor. The guy just has not found it. You can overlook the failings of Cory Gearing, he is still a kid. Proctor should be back by now. Let’s face it, he can’t get his fastball to be anything other than a laser beam and unless you can locate a pitch like that and add another 5mph to it, you are going to get lit up by big league hitters.
#2 A reliable hitter who can hit left handed pitching. At this point, I don’t care if he hits with his feet. Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann don’t seem to have any trouble with lefties. All those years Bobby Cox would platoon young hitters so they would not be exposed seem to work out pretty well. Would we be having this discussion if the Braves had paid our old friend Matty Diaz a couple of million to hang around another year? He is no Hunter Pence but he is sporting about a .280 BA and he was always a threat off the bench. Is Wilkin Ramarize really a better option? What did Matty do, run over Chipper’s cat?
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By the way… EARTH TO CHIPPER… YOUR KNEE IS NEVER GOING TO FEEL ANY BETTER, DEAL WITH IT…..
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Well. it appears that something is going to happen, I’m thinking we are looking at this all wrong. What if it’s not what the Braves are willing to give up to get Beltran, maybe it’s what other teams are willing to offer to get Minor…
So, who’s spot would Beltran take in the line up? Heyard, Schafer, McLouth? All are lefties. Heyward is the Golden Child, McLouth is nearing the end of his tenure in Atlanta. T’was a nice try by Wren to address a problem that didn’t work out. Too bad… We were all hoping he would fill the bill.
SO what would work out better for the Braves, Mike Minor for Heath Bell or Mike Minor for Carlos Beltran? You only get to play that Wammy Card one time…
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Does anyone think that maybe Billy Wagner might be bored with retirement yet? I’m pretty sure the Braves still own his rights. Send Bobby and Frank up to Virgina and talk to him. His kids are getting ready to go back to school so it’s not like he has a lot of other things to do.
The lure of a possible WS ring is a powerful draw I would think.
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I just know the braves history for having trouble with leftie starters, and to trade him to a team you play 18 games a year, when there is no way to re-sign Beltran…I’d much rather give Minor, Schafer, and some other prospects, for the smart Frenchy in Houston….
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Gil, I’d love to see Wagner come back, and that would make sense…but could he be comfortable as an 8th inning guy??? and how long would it take him to get into game shape? 4-6 weeks???
Now, if we do trade Minor for Beltran…not my favorite guy, for reasons I don’t want to get into here, but he does have a proven track record, especially come salary drive time, and playoff time. 15 Hr and 61 RBIs. All without David Wright in the lineup for much of the season. In fact, he’s the only guy on the team with more than 40 RBI’s. So he’d be a huge help for us…won’t the Mutts want someone who can play the outfield??? Would Nate and Minor get the deal done??? Somehow I don’t think so, but what do I know???
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See, it’s a lot like buying a new car, what’s it worth to you? What do you really need/ a car or a truck? See, same difference. Have to say, with Freddie Freeman heating up, opposing pitchers are having a hard time pitching around BMac.
Pretty glad it’s not my decision.
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Martinez is back; Gearrin is demoted. Good move.
Another good move is that Scott Rolen was DL’d prior to the game. That dude always has our number…
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Yep, Dan Uggla and Jason Heyward have been carrying this offense all…
… week.
😀
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Isn’t it amazing how fast Dan went from Uggla to Purta? 😆
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😆
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CL,
Heck, who needs another bat??? Suddenly a home run hitting machine team…
Think Heyward has been hearing footsteps???
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@SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
ive seen/heard speculation the #braves might give up mike minor for beltran. but i think that is HIGHLY doubtful.
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Like I have said, Mike Minor has value. Once he is gone, he is gone. I would think he would have greater value to a team like the Padres who are always looking to cut spending. Heath Bell would fill a greater need.
I would much rather ship him off to the American League but you have to deal where you can. Marlon Byrd from the Cubs would be another great pick-up. Would benefit both clubs too. I cannot imagine the Cubbies’ new ownership being very happy with such an underachieving club for such a high payroll.
Byrd would be a great fit in the Atlanta clubhouse. Someone to help mentor Heyward, a local boy too.
That said, anyone else notice that offense is up around baseball after the All-star break? What do they do, change the baseballs or something? Of course, when the temperatures climb into the upper nineties, so do ERAs. I guess the real answer is the heat. Who knew????
And yeah, 371 feet is pretty much a cheapie homerun but last I checked, the distance to the outfield wall was the same for both clubs.
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Man, the heat has not only gotten to Lowe, but to Freddi, Prado, etc…Lowe I understand. its 97 there at 5 PM CST. But everyone knew Stubbs was going to bunt…Prado was way back. And there was no point even trying to throw him out at home…
But, it was clear as day that Lowe had NOTHING at the start of the 6th. Every pitch was up, after looking great for the first 5 innings…
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So, what do you think was Scot Protors’ excuse? Seriously, I think it is time to let some other club take on the Scot Proctor reclamation project. I’m sure his waiver price won’t be too high. It is pretty evident to me that there is no one in the Braves organization who knows how to fix this guy. Not that he doesn’t still have potential, he can still bring it at 95mph but it’s like putting the ball on a tee for major league hitters.
D Lowe gave all he had, it was the offense that let them down yesterday, they had lots of opportunities to blow the game open early but allowed the Reds’ a chance to stay in it until the roof caved in.
Okay, new game today 1 PM ? Can start all even again.
Prado’s positioning (all defensive alignments) are called from the dugout. Calos Tosca, Brian Snitker, Terry Pendelton? One of them has that responsibility.
As for trying to get an extra inning out of Lowe, maybe Freddie knew what to expect out of Proctor, kind of like throwing in the towel when he comes in. Really, I cannot be the only person who sees this…
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There has to be at least one or two relievers in the system who can pitch better that Proctor. If not, another bat (Beltran) is not the number one need for this club.
I think the Braves really missed Chipper yesterday.
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My bad, game is tonight at 8PM on ESPN…
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Gil, Proctor is not the answer, it’s safe to say, eh??? Yes, Chipper is missed…and to be fair to Prado, he hasn’t played a lot of 3rd this year, has he??? He just looked like he was caught off guard…but like you said, if someone from the dugout had motioned to him….Oh well, it won’t be as hot at 8 pm at least!
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I see that the Braves have “shown interest” in the Nats’ Tyler Clippard. I would imagine they are. He’s an interesting pitcher. But the Nats would likely ask a ton from the Braves for him.
That is just the kind of pitcher we need to bring in, though. It’s much more necessary than another OF bat. I think there was plenty of evidence for that argument displayed in yesterday’s debacle…
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That said, I sure would like to see BJ Upton in a Braves uni. Yessir, I would indeed.
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Yes, and from what I understand, so are the Nats, I think they are dangling Clippard for him. The Rays are kind of at the end of their rope with BJ and they feel they need another bullpen arm. Who doesn’t?
Oh, and I think the “Big Pot” Todd Coffee can be had cheap. He has been a bit like Proctor, without the velocity.
Nationals are still building for 2013, that will be about the time the Phillies will really be showing their age.
I would not be surprized to learn that the Nationals would have an intrest in Schafer too. The have been coveting a speedy centerfielder, I think they feel Beridena (sp) is more of a right field guy. Ankiel was a cheap fill in for them this year.
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Maybe we can give ’em Schafer for Clippard and Ankiel… 😆
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Well, that sucked… 😐
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Kind of saw it coming when the Braves failed to score in the top half of the ninth.
Braves’ weakness revealed… No bullpen besides O’Ventrable…
Better groom one of those young studs in the minors to relieve because the pickins are slim on the big club.
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I still think they change out the baseballs after the All-Star break each year to adjust for hitting or pitching. This year they switched to aid the hitters because too many low scoring games… Just saying….
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We really do need the rain…
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V, It’s true! 😉
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Now baseball…sigh…
You know what sucked about the Sunday game on espn?? Besides being on espn??? Hearing Bobby Valentine be right, over and over, especially about JHey. Basically said you can’t hit in the majors with his stance/swing…he even called a DP just before it happened.
I was just looking into Frenchy’s numbers the year he was sent down. 11 HR 71 RBI, .239 BA. Now, perhaps someone with a better memory than me can remember , was his B.A. lower when he was sent down, and rose to .239??? I do recall one chance after another blown by him with runners on…What I do know is Heywar is hitting .221, with 11 Hr’s and 27 RBI’s in 263 AB’s . 6 hits in his last 33 AB for a .182 B.A. over that stretch. So, would it be horrible to send him down for 3 games? Or more???
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No, Ber… it would not. I think he needs something to provide a spark, if it’s a demotion or a platoon partner. The latter would probably work best for the Braves as a team. If he can’t handle the “insult”, then he’s just another knucklehead with talent.
Bowman has a nice piece here: http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/2011/07/26/braves-still-weighing-their-options/
He even mentions a couple of names I had not heard…
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V, interesting…Nothing is really a perfect fit, is it??? Ok, Would you guys be willing to trade….
Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino, Randall Delgado or Mike Minor for BJ Upton??? I’d bet he will hit for a bit on a new team. His B.A. sucks, but he’s at 15 53 with 23 steals. I see he only has 3 hits in his last 23 AB’s. Oh, this is interesting… .171 BA at home, .284 on the road! Just playing in front of more than empty seats might help him.
Would ya for Hunter Pence??? He has 3 hits in his last 21 abs…Like Upton, trade talk might be getting to him. But, he still has a .308 11 62 line. Another .300 hitter in the lineup would be amazing! IMHO, Minor and Schafer, and some other arm in the minors would be a very good deal for both teams. But, do they want a better offensive guy??? They really won’t have an offense without him….
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I might give up one of those guys not named Teheran or Vizcaino for Upton. Not for Beltran, not for Pence.
Upton intrigues me. I think he can still be the player he projected to be. The thing is, it would likely cost Schafer plus (insert pitcher here). And I think I am already shying away from parting with Delgado, and I haven’t even finished this post.
That’s a hefty price for less than 2 years of control. Tough call… I guess that’s why Frank makes the big bucks, huh?
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2night’s lineup:
1. JScha, CF
2. Marteen, 3B (dang, Chipper… just dang…)
3. Mac, C
4. ROY, 1B
5. 16 game hitting streak, 2B
6. Wayward, RF
7. McLost, LF
8. Lugo, SS (Gonzo is completely lost at the plate)
9. Big Red, RHP
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Been thinkin’…
I’d give Schafer and Minor for Upton. Yep, I’d do it. Maybe even Delgado in place of Minor.
The Braves cannot stand pat. They have gotten stagnant. Even if Upton ends up only being a marginal upgrade over Schafer this season, the Braves must do something.
Frank’s track record suggests they will.
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I think the problem Frank Wren is having is too many holes to fill with limited resources. At what point do you go all in? Give up the future for today? JS did it with Texieria, I’m not sure that worked out so well.
If the Braves were willing (able) to add some payroll, Carlos Quintin of the White Sox is available. Still think Marlon Byrd would be a good upgrade in centerfield. Send Schafer back the other way.
Nate looked really befuddled last night in centerfield. Two bad plays cost the braves two runs. One has to wonder, what’s up with him, listening to too many rumors? I don’t think the team will be building a shrine in the club house once he’s gone. Okay, maybe a candle lit as a way of saying thanks for going but other than that…
Still, I think this Braves team has under achieved so long, that the pitching staff might be exhausted. Pretty tough dragging that 600 pound gorilla from place to place.
As for Heyward, sorry if your feelings get hurt dude, but this is major league baseball, at least you won’t have to move from Atlanta to Richmond. Of course Hank Arron and the black guy who use to write for the AJC will have a cow but I digress…
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And Martin has not looked like an All-star at third either. Too many misplays. Like McLouth, but different.
Hopefully Chipper’s quad was more of a cramp than a strain. How do you strain a quad anyway?
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V, I understand the appeal of Justin Upton, but he, like his brother, have had attitude/work ethnic issues in the past. And if he can’t play for Maddon in Tampa, how will he play here??? But, he would have a chip on his shoulder…
I know Pence isn’t as “sexy” a choice, since he doesn’t have as high a ceiling, he is a .300 hitter, and that would take pressure off McCann and FF,(and Uggla, and everyone else) and would lead to more…leads. Hard to believe 2 teams have had more bullpen innings than the braves…but having someone driving in a few more runs , even just getting a SF, would allow the starters to stay in longer since they might have a 3-2 lead, and might cut down on extra inning games which would sure help the bullpen.
Just heard the Phils are going for Pence…just great. Then we can forget winning the east for the next 3 years, unless arms start to fall off there.
So, my brilliant plan, trade for Pence, plant him in right, send JHey(or Haywar as I typed above-Heywire?) to the minors for the rest of the year(ok, bring him up in Sept) and next year, with Chipper likely to retire(He will always be able to hit, but now he has a quad strain…I still want to know how Stan the Man and Teddy ball game could stay relatively healthy into their early 40s but guys today with fitness and dietary “advantages” can’t) Prado at 3rd, Pence or JHey in left…then we could give Schafer more of a fair shake…I don’t know…Shoot, bring over Jonny Gomes, and if he keeps hitting .333 against lefties(Just checked, in only 54 ab’s? Dusty, why does he have 164 Ab’s against righties, who he hit’s .171 against, and that few Ab’s against lefties??? No left handed starters in the Central?) we will win a few more games this year…
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Well, scratch Gomes off the list, for some reason, the Nats traded for him…
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I think the Gromes deal for the Nats was one of opportunity for them. They do not have a lot of outfield prospects in their system who are major league ready. Gives them someone to platoon with Nixs.
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And now Mac will go on the DL… just great. 😐
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😯
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I had the game on the radio… was listening through about the 16th inning before I dozed. I woke up in the 19th, but apparently wasn’t conscious enough to know what happened. I woke up this morning thinking that the Braves won it in 19, but couldn’t remember anything about it.
Then I saw the replay.
Wow. Just wow…
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Although I tried to several times to just turn the game off, I was drawn back to it like a rubbernecker to a train wreck. The home plate umpire was simply awful all night. The guy has a definite Napoleonic complex.
I thought Cristin Martinez was simply outstanding. Scot Proctor was saved by pure luck.
That’s okay, I can think of more than one bad call that went against the Braves in the past, it’s the way of evening things out I suppose. I’m pretty sure the Braves are not going to call the commissioner and concede the game. Not unless the Twins do the same….
That said, losing BMac for the next couple of weeks is a huge thing, to have also lost last night’s game for the Braves may have been a fatal blow to the season as far as momentum goes.
This may really force Wren’s hand to make a move sooner than later, I don’t think the Braves can afford to continue to leave guys on base with all the cracks showing in their starting pitching.
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Hard to believe 2 teams have had more bullpen innings than the braves…but having someone driving in a few more runs , even just getting a SF, would allow the starters to stay in longer since they might have a 3-2 lead, and might cut down on extra inning games which would sure help the bullpen
Ehhemmm, toot, toot! Me tooting my own horn! 😳
That was an amazing game, and I really wish it hadn’t ended that way, except for the fact both teams would likely still be playing…
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I don’t know if this is true or not…I still never saw an absolute the glove got him shot, perhaps the tip of the glove….but sweep tags are dangerous…
http://espn.go.com/blog/SweetSpot/post/_/id/14246/we-have-a-new-worst-call-ever
Gil, I think you are right, David Ross is a great backup and has some pop, but he isn’t the best hitter on the team…and who knows how long McCann will be out????
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Now, I think you all will find this interesting!
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/12915/better-career-griffey-jr-or-chipper
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Is Wren going to miss out on players????? Weird, weird trade talk, IMO….Bluejays???
Jays Close To Deal For Jackson; Rasmus Involved?
By Tim Dierkes [July 27 at 10:30am CST]
10:09am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that this deal is close but not complete, because the money exchange requires approval and the Jays are trying to spin Jackson to another team. That team may be the Cardinals, based on tweets from Joe Strauss, Jon Heyman, and Sherman. Sherman believes the Cardinals could also get a reliever and Colby Rasmus may be involved, but nothing is official. The Blue Jays have interest in Rasmus, tweets Morosi.
Meanwhile Alejandro De Aza is starting in center field for the White Sox this afternoon, necessitating a 25-man roster move.
9:21am: The White Sox are in serious talks for a deal that would send starter Edwin Jackson and third baseman Mark Teahen to the Blue Jays for reliever Jason Frasor and a prospect, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal’s colleague Jon Paul Morosi says this deal is close and money could be involved. The rumor was first reported ten hours ago on Twitter by a fellow named Doug Seyller.
The Jays’ motivation for renting Jackson for two months and taking on a bad contract in Teahen is unclear. There doesn’t appear to be a draft pick angle, as both Jackson and Frasor project as Type Bs. Perhaps Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is considering flipping Jackson to a contender.
The White Sox were known to be seeking bullpen help, and Frasor has a club option for next year. The Sox could also subtract a reliever, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that they’re talking to the Cardinals about Matt Thornton. Maybe Kenny Williams’ goal in the Jackson trade is to shed the $9.7MM left on the contracts of the two veterans, though we need to see the quality of the prospect involved. Sox pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd are also on the market, according to Rosenthal. The White Sox are currently 4.5 games out in the AL Central with another game against the Tigers tonight.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/blue-jays-in-serious-talks-for-edwin-jackson.html
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I think Mac’s injury coupled with Schafer’s broken finger definitely puts some heat on Frank. Oblique injuries are very unpredictable, and there is no way to know how long Mac will be affected. Since he was really the only consistent bat in the lineup, you gotta think Frank is working overtime now.
I won’t be surprised to see a move made today. Frank keeps things close to the belt, so he may already be in on a few players. It only takes one phone call for things to go from casual to serious. And we all know that when Frank turns serious, things happen very quickly.
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Ber, your Jays deal is done. Interesting indeed.
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And as is presumed, it looks like the Jays are about to flip Jackson to the Cards for Rasmus.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/article_0f7b1b4c-b86e-11e0-86d2-0019bb30f31a.html
That’s fine. I didn’t want Rasmus anyway. Now he’s gone to the AL. It’s all good.
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V, I had just read the Colby wasn’t listening to coaches, but BJ Upton has a rep that isn’t sterling(going back to being banned after attacking an Ump in the minors) he seems to have mellowed some…Now it looks like Beltran is headed to the Giants…didn’t really want him, but one less guy on the board…at least he isn’t going to the Phils it appears.
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Chris Singleton of ESPN likened Rasmus’ time with the Cards to that of Yunel and the Braves. Basically, he’s a talented knucklehead.
And yes, looks like Beltran will land by the bay. Good that he isn’t going to Philly.
Now… Braves. (a Scribe-like transition)
I like this:
http://twitter.com/#!/Ken_Rosenthal/statuses/96287307237298178
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And the beat goes on.
Schafer is being DL’d. Wilkin Ramirez will be in uni tonight.
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Looks like Frank bought himself a backup to the backup. Not a good omen, IMO…
http://twitter.com/#!/BrewerNation/statuses/96302278797037568
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I pose to you:
Hunter Pence or Carlos Quentin?
I prefer Quentin…
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V, how come, more power???
His BA 2009, 2010, 2011.
.236
.243
.265
Career B.A. .254
Hunter Pence (both are 28 by the way)
2009, 2010, 2011
.282
.282
.308
Career B.A. .290
Pence had 25 homers each year, 2008, 09, 2010 25 HR. This year only 11.
He has done this on a team that has lost twice as many games as they have won. Carlos Lee has 58 RBI’s , no one else has more than 35 RBI’s
Of course, to be fair, except for Paul Konerko and his 74 RBI’s Dunn has been terrible, so just 2 RBI guys there as well…
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Yes, Ber, for the power. And I don’t trust any offensive stats from the “Juice Box”.
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However, to be clear, I’d take either.
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V, not trying to be contrarian or anything(well, maybe a little 😉 ) but you mention something that I don’t know, so I thought I’d look up Pence’s home and away numbers. Now this is interesting. 2008 to 2010 .280 at home, .275 on the road! (was more interesting when I thought they were both .275, but now I see that was his daytime BA) 42 HRs at home, 35 on the road those 3 years.
.277 against lefties, .278 against righties. Now check out the stats at home this year. 4 homers, 35 RBI’s .330 BA. On the road??? 7 Hr’s 27 RBI’s .283 BA. How’d he only hit 4 HR’s there??? 😯
I guess what I like best about him, is you are pretty likely to know what you are going to get from him day in and day out, hits guys who throw from both sides equally well, and has a good B.A. which means on base more, and would drive in a ton of runs, it would stand to reason. Not to say Quintin wouldn’t do fine, like you, either or, just I would rather have Pence, by a little…
Oh, if we can’t have either of those, then Ludwick has driven in a lot of runs for a poor offense, so he’s not a bad choice…but, times a wastin!
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OK… I’m OK with any 1 of the 3. Get ‘er done, would ya? 😀
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I’m still thinking Marlon Byrd would be a good fit, I guess the one thing we don’t know is what type of financial constraints Frank Wren is operating under.
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V, I’m trying, I’m trying!
Gil, ok, don’t hear much about Byrd, but yeah, he plays hard and can hit….
like you said, we don’t know how much if any money they can add….
But, I’m going to be very much an unhappy camper if the Phils go into luxury tax area and add Carlos Quintin or Pence and we get Reed Johnson instead (though to be fair he is hitting .323-but also is having back issues)
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I think Carlos Quintin would be a great addition too, can he play right field?
Let’s be realistic, Jason Heywad has to be one of the biggest disappointments this season. It would be different if he was a stellar defensive player but he is not, maybe the Braves felt like they were forced to move him along a little more quickly than they should, after all, he is pretty young. Most kids his age are still in AA.
For some reason, he just looks a lot less mature than he did last year. Has he lost his nerve? Not being privy to inside info makes it pretty tough to do anything but speculate on the problem.
Now other opines… If Bobby Cox were still the manager, I’d say take a chance on B.J Upton, with Freddie, I’m not so sure. Bobby had a way of handling the ‘bad boys’ so they were not a disruptive influence. Sheffield was a classic example. Still, even he had trouble with some, Yunel Escobar come to mind but I think that was because Bobby could not speak directly to him because of the language barrier, perhaps it was the same for Kershin.
Some things jut don’t translate, some things do a little too well.
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Gil, now there is talk that the Phils LOVE Carlos, but the White Sox aren’t looking to trade him…perhaps looking to build up the prospects????
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Kinda hard to get excited about this talk…from MLBTR
Braves Eyeing Josh Willingham, Ryan Ludwick
By Tim Dierkes [July 28, 2011 at 10:29am CST]
The latest on the Braves’ search for an outfielder:
The Athletics’ Josh Willingham is on the Braves’ list of post-Carlos Beltran options, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Earlier we heard that the Braves are the last team in on Houston’s Hunter Pence and one of four teams in on San Diego’s Ryan Ludwick.
Willingham does seem to drive in runs, but is hitting .240
Ludwick .238
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well, except for being the final team on Pence…
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So for all of us cyber-GM’s trying to figure out the right guy to plug in at the right position, Fredi has a simple answer:
” …just get the player here and he’ll worry about where to play him.”
Me likey. 😀
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Jose Batista can play 3rd, or right field! 😛
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If Pence comes to Atlanta, I wonder if Joe Simpson is still going to call him the ‘Praying Mantis’?
I want whoever comes to Atlanta to have a positive impact.
Question? When was the last time Atlanta was a seller? 1989? 1990? Do you folks realize how spoiled we have become? Maybe we have been bridesmaids way too often but at least we had an invitation to the wedding… for what, 20 years? Amazing when you think about it.
Probably a good thing the Braves didn’t schedule the 20 year reunion while the Pirates were in town, would have been like salt in the wounds.
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Gil, perhaps you blacked it out, but we traded Tex a few years back at the trade deadline for a bag of balls or somethin’
Wonder why now we didn’t just keep him and get 2 draft picks???
But your point is still quite valid…how would you like to be a Padres fan?? Traded a great 1st baseman last year now their great closer any day…
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or blocked it out! 😳
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Or something…
Yeah, tough being spoiled by all those years where money was not a deterrent.
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Like the sound of this better….
Braves Eyeing Upton, Quentin, Willingham, Ludwick
By Tim Dierkes [July 28 at 5:21pm CST]
The latest on the Braves’ search for an outfielder:
The Braves and Phillies are both “very interested” in Quentin and it appears that the White Sox will consider moving him, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
Scott Miller of CBSSports.com confirms that the Braves have talked about Ludwick (they have “significant interest”), Willingham, Quentin and Pence. He adds B.J. Upton to the list of outfielders they’re considering.
The Braves are “hot” for White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin, tweets Rosenthal, and the Sox love Atlanta’s young arms. However, one holdup is the thumb injury to Dayan Viciedo, who would replace Quentin in Chicago’s lineup.
The Athletics’ Josh Willingham is on the Braves’ list of post-Carlos Beltran options, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Earlier we heard that the Braves are the last team in on Houston’s Hunter Pence and one of four teams in on San Diego’s Ryan Ludwick.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/braves-eyeing-josh-willingham-ryan-ludwick.html
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Braves also got top bullpen prospect Stephen Marek in the Tex deal. He was making really good progress in AAA until the dreaded Tommy John in May.
Still, he’s a good relief prospect, so the Tex deal was not completely bad.
Plus, Kotchman was shipped off for Adam LaRoche part II. He had a very nice 1/2 season here before signing with the Snakes, which did yield the Braves compensatory picks.
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From DOB’s tweeter a couple of hours ago:
Don’t know significance, but Wren & asst. GM Manno walked w/ sense of purpose to field to talk w/ Fredi for few minutes, then back upstairs.
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Joel Sherman, NY Post:
http://twitter.com/#!/Joelsherman1/status/96716147818381312
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6 for 45 with RISP vs. the Pirates.
6 for 45.
That sums it up.
Think we need to add a bat?
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Phils making progress toward Pence
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-trade-deadline-hunter-pence-houston-astros-philadelphia-phillies-072811
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More Rosenthal:
BRAVES HOT FOR CHISOX OF
According to a source, the Braves are “hot” for White Sox RF Carlos Quentin — and White Sox love Atlanta’s young arms. One holdup is the condition of Dayan Viciedo’s thumb at Triple A. He would replace Quentin for the ChiSox. Viciedo hasn’t played since Saturday. … more to come
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Jayson Stark on Twitter:
Source: #Phillies “still in” on Pence, talking same names reported Wed (Cosart, Singleton, others). Astros also mulling Braves offer
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Did I really say “From DOB’s tweeter” earlier?
😆
Sleep deprivation…
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New from DOB’s twitter:
No moves yet from #Braves, but GM Wren and asst GM Manno spent longer than usual in their postgame briefing with Fredi G.
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And I have spent longer than usual checking up on various news sources at dark-30. I must knock over some n’s.
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Heh, V…you are just checking for any sounds/communications from DOB! 😉
I’m still waiting for Christmas in July…please Santa…er Mr Wren, don’t leave me with coal in my stockings! 🙂
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Good morning and time for your trade deadline morning report…
From what I have read thus far last night and today, it looks like the Astros have set a sort self imposed pre-deadline deadline of today to deal Hunter Pence. It would appear that the faux deadline has been set to create an immediate bidding war before the actual league trade deadline of Sunday at 4pm. SI’s Jon Heyman says their asking price is still “unreasonable”.
In my very humble opinion, formed after reading multiple sources, the Phils seem to have made the best offer, but the Astros really, really like Mike Minor and want the Braves to step up their offer to the Phils’ level. The Braves, though, seem to be comfortable with what they have offered and are sitting on it. According to Jayson Stark, “the Braves’ offer is ‘significant’ and is built around highly-regarded pitching prospects, but does not include Julio Teheran.” (Duh.. who didn’t know that?) That would indicate to me that Minor is in the offer, else the ‘stros would have already moved on.
Also, it would appear that having the White Sox also salivating over Minor plays in the Braves’ favor. I think they prefer Pence, but would turn to Carlos Quentin in a second. Again, that’s just my opinion. Their preferences appear to be, highest to lowest: Pence, Quentin, Ryan Ludwick, Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp.
I truly would not be surprised to see something happen today involving Pence or Quentin. Otherwise, it’ll probably be on Sunday. All pure speculation by me, but educated speculation, so to speak.
And did it raise anyone else’s eyebrows that when they called up the fresh arm of Anthony Varvaro because of the overworked bullpen, that they sent down OF Wilkin Ramirez and not a pitcher like Cristhian Maritnez, whom they obviously cannot pitch for 4-5 days after he tossed 80+ pitches in the 19 inning marathon? Seemed a little odd to me. (By the way, I liked what I saw of Varvaro.)
One last thing. Y’all didn’t miss that Arodys Vizcaino was promoted to AAA Gwinnett and placed in their bullpen earlier this week, did you? He was taken out of the AA rotation a couple of weeks ago and put in their pen “because he had pitched alot of innings” and they were “throttling back on his usage”. Now he is promoted to AAA’s pen. Interesting. Interesting indeed. We’ll see him in the ATL pen before long, betcha.
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Oh… and I suppose I should have place B.J. Upton’s name on my list also, since his name is consistently being linked to the Braves. Somehow, though, I think the media is more interested than the Braves appear to be.
Maybe that’s because we already have an underachieving CF…
😀
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One last rant before I step off my soapbox and make my morning exit…
Anyone else notice that the offense started sputtering again about the time Jordan Schafer got hurt? His numbers are pretty mediocre, but his affect on the lineup cannot be dismissed.
That said, Martin Prado has to step up his game. For a guy whom so many people admire as the “heart and soul” of the team, he’s having a very pedestrian season. Anybody else would have been virtually crucified for going 0-9 in the 19 inning marathon, but Marteeen seemed to have totally gotten a pass. Heck, Danny Uggla was roasted for “only” getting 2 hits in 8 AB’s. Do y’all realize that Prado’s 12 GIDP’s is only 1 off team leader Alex Gonzalez in significantly fewer games and AB’s? Count me in as one who is not completely comfortable with Marteeen being our 3B of the future. I like him OK, but he’ll never carry a team offensively. His value is in his versatility. He needs alot of quality around him to shine.
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Here’s today’s English lesson:
Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun.
I should have said Schafer’s “effect on the lineup cannot be dismissed.”
Dadgummit… 😳
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http://twitter.com/#!/Joelsherman1/status/96969998739841026
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http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/status/96969155537932288
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To be filed under the heading of STUFF…
Today I bid on 4 different items for a total amount of $550
I did not win any of said items.
Does that mean I know have an additional $550 I can add to my account because I did not spend it? After all, that appears to be the same type of math our government uses.
On baseball trades…
I am not aware of all the moving parts of each proposed trade, ie: money, players, etc. What I do know is at some point the seller can become antsy too. Sometimes you have to show you are willing to walk away from a deal.
Personally, I think either Quinton or Pence would be an upgrade no matter where you put them in the line-up or on the field. What it appears to me is the Braves are going to be without two of their key pieces for a month.
I also believe that Frank Wren knows the Braves need at least one lefty starter in the line up, two would be better.
As it stands right now, I see very little chance of the Braves catching the Phillies if the Phils stay healthy. Sort of a reversal of last season.
On Marteen, I stated a similar opine on DOB’s blog yesterday. Richbrave and I talked about Prado a month ago while at lunch and expressed a similar view. I think Mateen is best used as a super sub, not as an everyday player at one position. Much like Omar last season.
I do not like him in the lead-off spot. Period…
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Jayson Stark:
The Braves offered a package that included prospects they didn’t offer to the Mets for Carlos Beltran, but the Astros turned the offer down. The Braves may be moving on, which would leave the Phillies as Pence’s primary suitor. The Red Sox, Reds, Pirates and Indians appear to have peeled off.
In the end, the Astros will end up with less than they want by trying to get more than they should. They played their hand a little too long and are losing leverage. That’s why the ‘stros are the ‘stros, I s’pose.
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More stuff… but funny….
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=J6TcpfBHlbs
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V, I have trouble with Affect and effect too, only I wouldn’t know which one was a noun and which was a verb! 😉
now baseball…(Man, does the scribe ever post at the AJC anymore??? too good a writer not to write about baseball somewheres) I’d really like to know if the braves did or didn’t offer Minor to the Mutts. I’m guessing no??? Cuz IF they did, then they are being foolish not offering him to the Astros.
I can’t blame the Astros for trying to get all they can for Pence. The Phils “best” two prospects are years away from helping the team, and of course A ball does not show if a guy will hit/pitch in the majors. Plus I hear the GM (Wade?) is under pressure since Pence is basically the franchise player(and the team is for sale) and the current owner isn’t crazy about trading him…oh well….funny how there was that flurry of activity a few days ago, now no trades anywhere…
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More stuff… Not so funny
McLouth to the DL— Abdominal strain
Costanza up and leading off tonight…
Training room is becoming a MASH unit…
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Folks, the thing I really miss is being able to scout the farm system like I use to. I can remember the first time I saw Brett Butler play centerfield for the Richmond Braves and I knew he would be a star.
So unless Raisins has scouted ‘George’ We will all get out first look together. Could this be the next Wally Pip moment in Braves history?
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To those in charge, I sent a fairly brief but hopefully serviceable blog lead about the trade deadline…
V, I forgot, I liked what I saw of Anthony Varvaro as well! Gil, did you see him pitch???
As for Prado, I think he puts a ton of pressure on himself, and the team’s offense has been pretty bad, in case you haven’t noticed. 😕 Prado hit .320 in 2008, and .307 in 2009 and 2010. So this .269 BA is going against the norm…only .239 for July…
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The only thing I know about Constanza is what I read, but I have only read good things. He’s basically the AAA version of Michael Bourn – high OBP guy (.361), speed (23 SB’s), little power (1 HR), good range and glove in CF.
Maybe a showcase?
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And Diory’s time had come and gone. That was a no-brainer.
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Pence to the Phils.
I am not necessarily heartbroken that we missed out on him, but dang… the Phils just got alot better. 😐
We really need to answer with something a little stronger than Willingham…
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Boy did they ever overpay, though. Wow… 2 top 25 picks and another top pitching prospect? Dadgum. I’m glad Frank didn’t get sucked into that!
Congrats, Mr. Wade. You just won the lottery…
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Yeah, Phils are a lot better. V, honestly I would think we could have matched up if we had wanted to. One guy is 19, the other is 21. Of course I never have seen either guy but honestly, their numbers do not jump out. a 9-8 record with a nearly 4.00 era. Now just heard Jo talking about Jonathan Singleton being a big kid stuck behind Ryan Howard, so he was expendable…the 3rd pitcher is at AA , is 24 and has a 5.65 ERA. They had a position player to offer, we didn’t…and that may be an issue moving forward, teams giving up their best hitter are going to want a hitter back, right?? Unless we get a Willingham type….
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MLBTR:
[Jarred] Cosart, 21, ranks as high as 17th by ESPN’s Keith Law and as low as 43rd by Baseball America among the game’s prospects. He dealt with an elbow injury last year, but has the electric fastball and plus curveball of a future front-rotation starter.
Cosart’s High-A teammate Jonathan Singleton, 19, was ranked #24 by Law and #41 by BA. Law says Singleton has “one of the best swings in the minors.”
[Josh] Zeid, a 24-year-old Double-A righty, was ranked 23rd among Phillies prospects by BA prior to the season.
I really think the Phils overpaid, but they could afford it I suppose. But after giving up a haul for Lee 2 years ago, another load for Oswalt last year, and a bunch for Pence this year, their system has to be hurting. Their priority is obviously right now because they are an old team that has gutted their pipeline.
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V, you are right, amazed the Phils have anything left in the minors that anyone would want. They have have some pretty good scouts, since they are drafting late like the braves often have….
I just hope the braves are not holding on too tight to prospects. We aren’t likely to win the East, but we could win the wildcard, but not going to go anywhere with this offense….
Good game tonight against a much improved Marlins team….
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Yes Ber, I saw Varvaro, I thought he looked pretty good, of course, I said the same about Garrin when I first saw him. Would like to see him a couple of more times,
Welcome to the Jose’ Constanza era folks. I could give a whit if he can hit home runs, I like a speedy guy who knows his living is singles and walks. Maybe a gapper once in a while, great to see a guy finally get a chance in the show after all those bus rides and Happy Meals in the minors. Finally a guy who you can play hit and run with and not worry about him being thrown out by two feet.
It will take him a little time to adjust to the poor lighting at Turner Field but he has likely experienced enough failure to be a quick study. If I were Frank Wren, I would fine Schafer for every fly ball he hits and fine Heyward for every grounder. Those two guys have their swings backwards.
PS, If I were Nate McLouth, I would be putting my Atlanta home on the market in preparation for my exit. He may make it through this season but I would not put heavy money on it.
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Anyone have any idea of where Beachy was rated by baseball America as a prospect? What a great pick up as an unsigned free agent. Some scout was very perceptive, a ton of them weren’t….
I got to see Brandon in spring training, he has a certain mound presence about him when he pitches. Hard to describe but you know it when you see it.
So, do the Braves go cheap or do they go big? My oh my how I bet Frank Wishes Kershin had accepted that trade to a Japanese team. Money talks, y’all know the rest.
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If I were Frank Wren, I would fine Schafer for every fly ball he hits and fine Heyward for every grounder. Those two guys have their swings backwards.
Wow Gil, if ever truer words have been spoken(typed?) I haven’t heard(read) them!
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Well, from this morning’s readings, it appears that the Braves are back to targeting a CF. They were in on Coco Crisp until the Pence thing went down, and now appear to be aiming a little higher, like Marlon Byrd higher. I personally like Marlon Byrd and think he would be a very good fit here.
Bourn is back on the list, although I personally don’t think he’s a big upgrade.
And Upton is also still in play.
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And I still think Phillie overpaid for Pence.
Rosenthal says that Houston was asking for 2 of Atlanta’s big 4 pitchers. Yeah, right… that was gonna happen.
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NEW BLOGGAGE… Thanks Ber
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